


Who is Anne with an E?

by DS_ds



Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Kill Me game, Party Games, This Is STUPID, This is an AU, With A Twist, Xmas panto, a lot about nature, and a tiny bit of sweetness and fluff, death is not the end, discovering roots, goes beyond season 3, may include spoilers for all seasons, not sure about rating - mentions of violence/abuse, oh there is a bit of kissing :), pancake - Freeform, retelling of original story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21761731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DS_ds/pseuds/DS_ds
Summary: This is a retelling of Anne story which leads to the ultimate revealing of her roots and heritage.This is an AU although it may not be so apparent at the beginning. But who knows :)If you are impatient, start from chapter 7.I know books like ‘murder mystery with body only on 157th page’ can be annoying. You can go back to previous chapters later.Here is chapter 11 and the end of this monster story!
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Comments: 13
Kudos: 32





	1. Wanderer in the woods

**Author's Note:**

> I retell some events from the canon highlighting what I need. There are some canon divergent ones of course.  
> Still all the other events omitted in this story you may assume happened more or less as in canon. Also, because I omit them, it may be a bit harder to read the story if you don’t know the canon. But hopefully still doable.  
> All comments are welcome.

Anne stood on her tiptoes and reached out to kiss the blooms on the highest branch of the small tree. She then stretched her arms wide and gently brushed her fingers along boughs of two other of the three saplings that adorned the front yard of the orphanage building, barren otherwise of any other specimen of the plant kingdom. A casual viewer might have seen the beauty of the scene as warm summer sun rays hit the face of the girl framed by light green leaves of the tree. An observant casual viewer would have seen how the branches she had caressed seemed to extend and follow her fingers even once they had lost contact with them, as though trying to reciprocate the gesture. Alas, there was no viewer around. The street was an unfrequented one and as it was lunch hour all the orphans were inside taking the most of the meagre lunch provided. Anne hugged the small trees tightly without the risk of her peers taunts then.

-Goodbye my dearest friends. I shall miss you so, poor dears. I just hope you will be able to persevere in this sorrowful environment. Please take the juices of the sweet soil that must be somewhere below this city dirt and grow and grow so you become mighty grand trees, bringing joy to the future generations of orphans here...

-Anne Shirley! - a face with stern expression appeared in an upstairs window - stop any foolishness you are up to and come here this minute! Mrs Spencer came to collect you.

Anne was silent during check out process at the orphanage for fear of saying something that would make the matron to change her mind about sending her out. She was also silent during the ferry crossing to Prince Edward Island but for a completely different reason. It was simply that the ocean mesmerised her. The vast waters, the ever changing colours of them, green and blue and grey and stone and so many others, all glistening under the June sun. She admired the ripples and the broad waves all caused by the gentle breeze, she gazed longingly into the white foam emerging behind the ferry as they left their departure port. She looked with intensity deep into the waters trying to see what lay below the surface, to spot any fish or plants there. She gave little attention to disappearing town but focused her gaze for a few minutes on the blue sky spotted with crying gulls. Them she moved her eyes to fix on the far horizon, filled with excitement over what lay ahead of her but also some curious unexplained feelings of missing a faraway unknown haven. Mrs Spencer was afraid Anne would lose her balance and fall into the sea, she tried a few times without success to induce her to come below deck for a cup of tea but then gave up. Anne was rewarded for her stubbornness by the spectacular sight of PEI appearing in the distance, first blurred and misty and the nearer they got the sharper, clearer, with lush green slopes and patches of red soil, with high cliffs and finally a port of their destination.

Although she could be silent if she resolved to be or if she was lost in her daydreams, during the train trip to Bright River she could no more contain in herself her joy.

\- Oh, Mrs Spencer, just look out through the window. Those birch trees are simply divine. No, divine doesn’t describe them well enough. Tremendously divine. That light sifting through the leaves, why!it looks almost as if fairies were dancing among them. Oh, and apple... are they? or cherry?... trees out there, all in bloom. So white as most exquisite bride. Oh, Mrs Spencer, I know you must have seen them hundreds of times already but I am just so happy to meet them today and think we will be neighbours from now on. In the orphanage we only had three miserable trees. I loved them dearly. I do love trees so, don’t you? But I always imagined and missed actually living near forests and meadows. I must be a countryside girl in my soul. Don’t you think? Oh, please, tell me more about Avonlea. Are there vast forests around? And the brook perhaps? Or the lake? Or even a village pond...don’t you think ponds are certainly dug by persons that miss lakes just so....

***

Anne swallowed tears as she climbed the carriage. She had only lasted a few days and here they were sending her back. Even though she confessed so beautifully. And leaving was so much bitter. Because she has already fell in love with the farm and the horse. With the house with its porch and bright kitchen and, well, its green gables. With the green woods extending just beyond the gate. With the red roads and distant call of the sea. With blooming cherry tree beside her window. And with the people. Two kindred spirits has she found and now had to leave them behind. It was far harder than leaving mirror girl. Or echo girl. It felt so painfully real...Anne blinked and swallowed harder as the carriage rolled steadily towards the station. They made it just in time to see the steam engine puff its way onto the platform. Anne jumped off the carriage and bowed to its driver in acknowledgment of the lift. She proceeded then to board the train, carrying her old yellow carpet bag in one hand, throwing a last look at the wild plum tree, all in pinkish white, further along the platform. She blew it a kiss and sat down at the first available seat still determined not to let the tears flow. But then, just as the train jerked and started to move out of the station, she thought better of it. 

She stood up rapidly, grabbed her bag and jumped out. On the other side than the station. Straight into the bushes along the trail. Nobody seemed to have noticed and the train promptly disappeared behind the curve of the line. 

Anne rolled off and lay panting and looking up towards the azure sky. No cloud could be seen on that vast expanse of blueness. And she saw no reason why any clouds should spoil her future anymore. The Cuthberts thought her a thief and sent her away. She would somehow live with the former and learn to accept the latter. It wasn’t a new thing to her, to be unwanted. But then, the orphanage also didn’t want her. So why go back there? She would rather stay on this perfectly beautiful island and wander its forests forever and ever. 

Once she made this decision, Anne stood up and dusted off her skimpy dress. The jump from the train fortunately did not cause her any serious injuries as the train wasn’t moving at great speed when she jumped. The small scratches caused by landing in the thorn wild rose bush have already started to heal, the bleeding certainly ceased. Once again she picked up her bag and started towards the nearest woods.

Anne roamed through the forests full of joy to be finally alive. She admired the light filtering through the green canopy overhead as she spun around in circles, arms outstretched, laughing aloud. She sang along with chirping birds hidden in dense shrubs along the paths she followed aimlessly. She hugged the trees on her way, patting affectionally their rough warm bark and inhaling the woody damp smell. She stooped to caress the wild flowers that grew abundant under her feet wherever she turned. When the dusk came, she laid on the soft green moss to rest and fell asleep. Or she climbed a friendly tree and made herself cozy among its branches. She would then wake up just before dawn and look at the last stars fading before the rising sun reclaimed the hemispherical kingdom over her head. And she danced and danced further and further from Bright River station. She avoided venturing out of the woods and indeed, the company of birds and foxes and deers she deemed enough. 

Yet one morning, misty after the night rain, just as she approached a small stream to wash herself, she was startled by someone calling...why! her name.

\- Oi, Anne! Allo!

She turned to see that awful Jerry, the farm boy of Green Gables. In her roamings, even though she started in the opposite direction, she must have unconsciously come near Avonlea again. He seemed quite as astonished to see her as she was to see him.

\- Jerry? 

\- You are here? How?

\- I decided to live a life of a forest dryad and stay here forever. See, the island enchanted me so...

\- Oh, you must come. Mr Cuthbert look for you. Mrs Cuthbert she weeps so. You must come with me.

\- No Jerry, they sent me away. You are mistaken. - she insisted.

\- Anne, je sais que je vois. Mrs Cuthbert she weeps all week since you went. I go to work now. I take you... Wait. You lived in the forest?

\- Yes. I feel at home here, finally. 

\- But what do you eat? You had breakfast? 

\- Oh this and that, berries, you know - frankly all these days Anne was simply too enraptured by the surroundings to think too much of food and water she found in abundance in the streams and springs.

At this Jerry, who by now approached her enough to be able to touch her, grabbed her by the hand and dragged her behind himself in the direction whence he first appeared and where, as Anne now saw, stood a small wooden house.

\- You must be hungry, we get you something - he explained before she had a chance to twist from his grip - maman! maman! - he cried towards the house.


	2. A touch too much

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we go further with the story. Two classic scenes rewritten a bit to fit my purpose.  
> Billy haters, enjoy :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just as a reminder, all the happenings that I skip you can assume went just like in canon.
> 
> thank you to fandom page and whoever wrote the transcripts there.

Anne started her way to school pondering about her potential new friends. They seemed pretty hostile towards her during the summer picnic. But yesterday at school wasn’t so bad. The girls were at least listening to her, even if Josie tended to be condescending. The boys just spared her no look and as far as Anne was concerned she could live with it. Billy she could handle. She met worse in the orphanage, didn’t she? And she had Diana by her side. Sweet, lovely, pretty Diana. What can go wrong if she has her bosom friend by her side? 

Soon her attention moved to her surroundings since Anne simply couldn’t walk through the woods and not appreciate them. This year autumn came early to Avonlea, there was no Indian summer. The air was cool and crisp, with even a touch of frost in the air despite it being only late September. Most leaves have already fallen from the trees and as Anne walked slowly looking up at bare tree branches and pale gray sky, her feet shuffled through heaps of brown and yellow dried leaves. To some it would seem melancholic. To Anne it seemed peaceful, just as this last hour before going to bed. And perhaps this was indeed the mood the trees had.

And then suddenly she stopped in her tracks as she saw a tall, unpleasantly familiar figure blocking her path a few steps ahead.

\- Anne The Orphan. You and me... we're gonna talk. You said some pretty nasty stuff about my sister.

\- Who's your sister? - asked Anne, eyes widening.

\- Prissy Andrews, dummy. - Billy took a small step towards her.

\- I'm sure...uhm... I didn't mean to be nasty - Anne took a step back without taking her eyes off him, a necessary skill life taught her early on.

\- Is that why she was crying all night? My parents say that's slander. You wanna get slandered? - he took another menacing step.

\- Sorry, I truly meant no harm - Anne backed some more

\- I'm gonna teach you a lesson, Fido. You're a bad dog. Bad little dog! - he advanced further.

Anne took one last step backwards and felt the tree trunk behind her back. No more space to escape. This time she offered no answer to Billy. She simply stared at him with fear in her eyes, steeling herself for what would come. Yet her thoughts ran in circles as she felt warm, smooth bark she leant into. She gently touched the tree with one hand, trying not to draw attention to herself anymore than she already did while struggling to draw as much strength from this contact as she could. ‚Please, please, someone, anyone help me’ she repeated in her head.

\- I will show you a pet mouse that will last you for a life time, Fido. You dirty thrashy... - he took one last step, reaching in her direction.

And then two things happened simultaneously.

Another tall figure emerged at the path ahead and this, unknown to Anne, someone called: Hey, Billy! How's it going?

And with an ominous crash a long thick branch landed on Billy’s head. He cried out in surprise and collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

Anne slowly, as in trance, approached the laying figure and crouched near Billy’s head. The unknown boy have run to him as well and was now, from the opposite side than Anne was, trying to drag the branch away. Once it was accomplished, they both stared at a prominent goosebump at Billy’s forehead. There were no more visible injuries. Anne timidly reached out and touched the bump delicately with her finger. It seemed just a normal kind of bump. At this moment Billy’s eyelids flickered and he opened his eyes. For a few seconds he just stared in shock at Anne. Then some understanding dawned on him and he started a sneer. At just that moment Anne’s brain finally clicked as well and she quickly pulled her fingers back. Billy’s sneer immediately went into a wince of pain, he blinked and sat up angrily. 

\- You witch! Just what... - he paused as his eyes recognised the boy on his other side - oh...Gilbert, bud...ehm? - he finished rather unclearly.

\- A branch fell on your head - Gilbert gestured to the offending piece of wood - you have a mighty bump on your head and was unconscious for a moment. How do you feel now? 

\- Uhm, right I guess - Billy patted his forehead with a stupid expression - my head hurts.

\- It should probably get better soon. Feel up for school? 

\- Yeah, better be going, mr Phillips does not tolerate tardiness - Billy grabbed his chance at not having to describe his attack on Anne, scrambled to his feet and rapidly walked away.

Gilbert stood up as well and extended his hand to Anne who was still crouching down next to where Billy had laid. 

\- Here, let me.

She glanced up at him, her eyes still full of fear, and backed away a few inches. She stood up then slowly all by herself, stooped and picked up her books. Then simply started on her way to school. All Gilbert could really do was to follow her two steps behind.

\- Miss, hello, are you alright? Are you hurt? What happened?

She ignored him and sped up. 

\- Miss, what is your name?

No response but a sharp angry breath intake. They were already just in front of the school building.

\- Miss, you seemed to know something about bumps, didn’t you?

At that finally she turned around in indignation.

\- I should hope so. I’ve helped to raise 8 children, haven’t I?

Gilbert hid his astonishment behind a cheerful smile and extended his hand once more.

\- Sure. Will you tell me your name now? I am Gilbert Blythe.

\- I am sorry - Anne politely accepted the handshake - Anne Shirley-Cuthbert. Anne with an E. 

And they entered the schoolhouse. Gilbert to be met by joyous shouts from the boys. Anne - by shocked silence of girls and angry stare of Billy.

***

Several eventful weeks passed during which Anne abandoned school and Gillis house caught on fire. But now Anne was back to school and her friendship with Ruby started to grow. Today a spelling bee was in full swing.

\- Spell amorous - said mr Phillips, looking meaningfully at Prissy Andrews.

\- Amorous. A-M-O-R-U- - Tillie started.

\- Ah wrong! Sit down.- barked mr Phillips absently, his eyes still on Prissy, locking her in his gaze - Spell gorgeous.

\- G-O-R-G-I- - Moody had no chance at this game with his nervousness.

\- Argh! Sit down, you butcher of beauty - mr Phillips growled at him - Ostracise?

Gilbert looked confident as he spelt - O-S-T-R-A-C-I-Z-E - while his friends cheered him on.

\- That would seem to be correct - mr Phillips grudgingly admitted, still looking at Prissy - Haughty

\- H-A-U-G-H-T-Y - Anne said enunciating clearly. It was now down to only her and Gilbert and she was determined to win. Because she just loved words. Because she wanted to be the best so that Matthew might be proud. And maybe also because she wanted to show that awful boy she is better than him at this.

\- Callous - threw mr Phillips, not bothering to acknowledge Anne’s performance.

\- C-A-L-L-O-U-S - Gilbert quipped easily, gazing fondly at Anne. 

\- You can do it, Anne! - the girls cheered her on. Now it was down to whether to bet on that weird orphan girl or on a boy. Female solidarity apparently won.

\- Penitent - a dark look meant to push Prissy outside her comfort zone.

\- P-E-N-I-T-E-N-T - spelt Anne looking at her girl friends. Diana was leaning forward, her fingers crossed. Jane was smiling contentedly, sure of the outcome. Josie was sitting stiff but refraining from any catty comments. Tillie looked anxious. And Ruby...she in fact looked strained, her hands grasping her stomach and her face a bit pale. 

\- Intentions - mr Phillips said with emphasis.

\- I-N-T-E-N-T-I-O-N-S - Gilbert spelt casting another glance at Anne, seeing her concern and then following her gaze to Ruby.

\- Persevere - mr Phillips words seemed to have some hidden double purpose.

\- P-E-R-S-E-V-E-R-E - Anne spelt correctly even though she was by now only half-heartedly in the competition. She watched instead as Ruby bit her lip and grasped her stomach tighter and then as she stood up quietly and left the school room. Anne fidgeted in place, undecided if she should follow or stay in the bee.

\- Engagement.

Gilbert saw Ruby leaving, looked again at Anne standing undecided next to him and judging correctly the reason for her uneasiness he grabbed his chance - E-N-G-A-G- M?

\- That is incorrect - spat mr Phillips, apparently shaken out of is absorption with Prissy by the failure of his best student. - The spelling, not the sentiment.

Diana fairly screamed in delight from her place - Anne, you won!

Anne shook her head slowly as if casting herself out of a daydream and looked at her without smiling. Diana could not have seen Ruby exiting from her position in the first row, so she was a bit surprised at Anne’s behaviour. 

Gilbert turned to Anne and said - Congratulations, Anne. I should've added an E. - he smiled at her and then moved his eyes for a tiny second in the direction of the door before looking back at her. He figured they were probably the only two people in the room realising Ruby left for a reason other than privy as others were too absorbed looking to the front of the classroom to take notice of their mates in the pews. Anne nodded in acknowledgement of both his congratulations and unspoken exchange over their friend predicament and quickly walked towards the door as well, mumbling something as an explanation to mr Phillips in passing. She was by now too worried for Ruby to be angry at Gilbert for uhm...communicating with her.

Anne found Ruby outside, sitting hunched down at the bottom step of the schoolhouse. She sat quietly next to her. 

-Ruby, are you alright? Is something hurting you?

\- I have terrible cramps in my stomach all of a sudden.

\- Do you think it is something you ate? - Anne inquired with concern. She put her arm around Ruby’s shoulders and hug her sideways.

\- Oh, I don’t now...what could be wrong with oatmeal? - Ruby sighed, trying to be brave - but as we talk I think I start to feel better, go back Anne, I will come soon.

Anne looked unconvinced at Ruby who still looked a bit pale.

\- I am not sure it would hurt you to skip the rest of today and get some rest. Come on - she stood and pulled the other girl up - I will accompany you home.

Anne walked Ruby up to the Gillis front porch, supporting her by her arm around Ruby’s shoulders, and deposited her in the arms of a concerned mrs Gillis. She then raced to school just in time for the end of a lunch break.

The next day Ruby was back. All the girls were now obviously aware she skipped the afternoon lessons and during lunch hour they all gathered in their favourite spot, ready to pepper Ruby with questions.

\- Oh, I felt such terrible cramps you know, in the lower part of my stomach. It was a bit better while Anne was walking me home but then it all returned so I fairly slept the afternoon off. 

\- Do you know what was wrong? - Jane asked.

\- Uhm.. - Ruby blushed - ma explained to me...I got my first visit of Mother Nature...

\- Shhh. - Josie looked quickly around - I got mine three months ago and I feel extremely mature.

\- You seem mature - Diana politely agreed.

\- I think the boys take me more seriously, too - added Josie.

\- But they can't tell. Can they can tell? - Anne asked out of curiosity. She glanced at Ruby at just that moment and saw she looked scared just at the thought.

\- Not tell per se. - Josie assured her - But I'm not a little girl anymore, and I believe that's noticeable. My bosoms are growing.

Anne looked at her sceptically but refrained from saying anything. Luckily Diana spoke before Josie could read Anne’s expression.

\- I got mine last year - she said.

\- Me, too - Tillie added.

Jane said nothing but looked so serene nobody asked her. The girls all looked to Anne then. She shifted a bit in her seat before admitting aloud:

\- Nope. Not yet. But I don’t mind in the least. This sounds so inconvenient!

\- Hush, Anne! - Diana admonished her.

\- Keep your voice down - Josie added.

\- No one's supposed to know. A woman's cycle is a shameful thing. - Tillie explained.

\- Why? - Anne was honestly curious.

\- It's unmentionable, that's why - said Diana.

\- That's not a reason - countered Anne - if Ruby feels bad, or any other of you, why can’t you just say so?

\- Why don't you ever understand anything? - asked Josie - nobody can know!

\- Half the population apparently experiences it and would understand the problem. Where's the shame then?

\- Am I the only one who thinks she's out of her mind? - Josie was exasperated.

\- It's a secret, Anne. That's just the way it is. - Diana wanted so badly to smooth things before boys came back from the outside.

\- Do boys have to contend with anything like this? - Anne was immune to her efforts.

\- Boys have their own problems - Diana said knowingly but despite many surprised glances from other girls she did not elaborate.

\- When I get mine, I stay home from school, because I don't want to have an accident. - Tillie ventured upon another branch of the topic.

\- Accident? - Ruby was positively petrified now.

\- Oh, you were sick at that time but - Tillie explained with gusto - there was a girl a few years ago who bled right through the back of her dress.

\- Oh, I would die of mortification - said Jane.

Ruby looked as she would die at the spot right now.

Anne went home that day thinking about this conversation. Not necessarily about the taboo part but rather why she was the only one who have not had the experience yet. Was there something wrong with her? She was half year older than Ruby. 

She asked Marilla shyly while they were washing up after supper. But Marilla’s firm advice was not to worry. Some girls were known to wait for theirs till they were 15 or even 17. Anne’s worries were only partly eased at that but she had to wait a few more years before finally putting them behind herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies for the delay. First I have this idea but it grows slowly...  
> (anyway, does not look I tempted many readers...hopefully this one will be appealing and I honestly will get to the new scenes soon.)
> 
> And then guys I also try to help fight with #renewannewithane fingers crossed we get s.4...


	3. Reflections in the snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne’s first winter in Avonlea. Adventures in the snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel super creative today. Enjoy.  
> As promised, some new stuff apart from only retelling the already known scenes.  
> I hope you will like it.

Winter came to Avonlea and Anne was beside herself with joy. She walked long hours in the woods and across the fields, admiring snow sparkling in the snow, trees with fluffy white pads on their branches, deers coming to feed off hay rack in the back meadow of Green Gables, small birds of all colours crowding around grain she willingly fed to them. She missed walking with Diana, as mrs Barry has not yet relented after the unfortunate accident with the wine, but at least she could look at her bosom friend at school. One day mr Phillips asked Anne to stay behind after lessons.

\- Miss Shirley - he said passing her a stack of books - Take these lessons to Gilbert Blythe. He'll be missing class for a time, and I don't want him falling too far behind. He's my best student.

\- Why is he missing class? - Anne decided not to point out she was now a Shirley-Cuthbert.

\- That is none of your concern. Now hurry along. Scat!

Anne left the schoolhouse and picked the road to Blythe farm instead of to her own house. It wouldn’t do to discuss the matter with mr Phillips and she had no time to find someone else to pass the mission on as Marilla expected her home soon.

\- Why does everything happen to me? - she thought to herself - Gilbert?! Gilbert Blythe! Life is so unfair...

But soon the winter wonderland of the forest took over her annoyance. She twirled on the path looking around at sleeping trees and sun reflecting off the white planes of drifts bordering the path on both sides. She listened to the silence of the woods as she trotted along, carefully picking up the path in front of her. Nobody travelled it today, as there was no other farm in that direction and Gilbert of course was absent. She emerged from the woods just at the edge of the orchard and affectionately patted the first apple tree in the row. She let go in a second but walked slowly backwards towards the house, tilting her head and still looking at the tree. Absentmindedly she knocked and waited. She heard the door open finally.

\- Sorry to make you wait - said a voice unknown to her.

Anne was still looking towards the orchard and blurted out quietly without really thinking too much how weird it can sound:

\- That apple tree in the corner near the entrance feels like some fungi are starting to chew on it...maybe there is something that could be done to relieve it? - she turned then and realised she spoke aloud and to an unknown man dressed in a nightgown at that - I am sorry sir - she added hastily - I am known for rambling...uhm...can I see Gilbert?

\- Gilbert is out back chopping wood. - the man said, smiling. 

Anne assumed he must be Gilbert’s dad. She smiled.

\- What wonderful red hair. Ethereal in this winter landscape. You're the Cuthbert's new charge, aren't you?

\- Yes.

\- I've heard nice things about you. And how is Marilla? Still feisty, I hope? - at that he coughed harshly.

Gilbert appeared from around the corner of the house, carrying a few pieces of wood in his arms.

\- Dad, what are you doing? You shouldn't be walking! - he exclaimed.

\- My son worries too much. - mr Blythe shook his head, clutching at the doorframe - Gilbert, it seems this young lady has urgent business. With you. I'll go inside now.

\- I'll fetch your chair - Gilbert said.

\- I'll go on my own, thank you, son - he turned politely to Anne - It was nice to meet you, Anne. Give my kind regards to Marilla.

\- I will. Of course, Mr. Blythe. Thank you - she said and watched silently as mr Blythe disappeared inside. Then she looked back at Gilbert.

\- Those for me? - Gilbert asked gesturing with his head to the books.

\- Uh huh - said Anne who really wished to keep this conversation short.

\- Well, uhm, it's kind of you to bring them by - he stooped and put the wood on the porch, straightened and took the books from Anne’s hands.

\- Mr. Phillips doesn't want you falling behind - Anne explained, willing to disarm any ideas he might have about her coming here being her own initiative.

\- I don't either. If you're going to beat me in class, I want you to do it fair and square - he smiled teasingly.

\- Yes. Exactly - she answered flatly.

\- Um thank you - her unease got to him as well - See you.

Anne turned and walked slowly towards the woods, this time concentrating on her steps. Gilbert stood for a moment looking at her retreating figure. It seemed to him something was wrong with the picture...or at least not as it should be but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

As he entered the house his dad called to him.

\- Son, come here for a second - mr Blythe waited until Gilbert appeared on the threshold of his bedroom before continuing - that Anne of yours - Gilbert blushed slightly at the expression used but his father took no notice - she said to mind that apple tree at the entrance to the orchard, you know, grandma’s favourite, she seems to think it contracts mould...maybe give the tree a check in the spring?

Gilbert stared.

\- Anne said that? Fancy, I never put her as experienced in orchard work...

It was only when he woke up at midnight to his father’s cough when he realised what felt wrong when he looked earlier at Anne’s small form receding into the distance. She was walking through untouched snow. And yet...she had to somehow get to their farmstead first...

Gilbert had no time to look at that specific apple tree following spring, as he was by then far away sailing the Primrose toward Caribbean islands. It was only in the spring after he and Bash returned to Avonlea when they inspected the well being of the orchard. Gilbert saw his grandmother’s favourite apple tree had been crashed in some past gale and lay uprooted in the grass, its roots disintegrating upon touch. He cursed his fate which seem not only to take his beloved from him but also their beloved trees. Then he remembered what his father asked him to do his last winter. 

\- Anne Shirley-Cuthbert is really an astonishing individual. Not only has she raised 8 kids by age 13, but she also seems adept at doctoring apple trees. 

\- I thought it was you who wants to be a doctor here - laughed Bash.

***

It was a few days after Minnie May’s misadventure with croup. Diana came to the fork in the road where she always met Anne before school so they could cover the rest of the distance together. Today Diana was a bit late and, when she saw Anne was not there, was on the verge of starting alone when she spotted her friend someway to the left, standing in the small clearing. Anne was positioned in the middle of it, arms wide and looking up with a big smile, clearly admiring something above in the trees. Diana decided they still had time to spend and quickly stepped into the pristine snow off the path. Immediately she sank knee deep in it and felt cold flakes sifting into her boots. Still she waded slowly through the snow towards Anne until she stood just next to her. 

\- Oh, Diana, see there is a tit up there, pecking at the mistletoe on that tree.

Diana looked up and noticed Anne’s head was now good 15 inches above her own.

\- Anne! How did you managed to come to this place unscathed? My boots are full of snow.

Anne looked back towards the path in confusion and then at Diana, still knee deep in fluffy soft snow. 

\- Oh, my, why don’t you try walking carefully on top of the snow? This prevents getting all wet.

\- I can’t - said Diana.

\- Can’t you? - Anne was aware most people were leaving traces behind themselves in the snow but put it down to their carelessness and even tried to remember to do so as well to avoid their staring. Yet she had not much previous experience with deep snow, having lived in the town most of her life. She assumed in the countryside everybody could walk on the surface as it was so much easier. Now she stared at Diana almost as astonished as her friend was.

\- No Anne, I don’t think it is a common skill - she said politely.

\- Give it a try - Anne urged her and offered her a hand to pull her up.

Diana scrambled up only to sink again into a fresh drift. She laughed. Anne giggled too.

\- I must be too heavy - said Diana.

\- Nonsense - countered Anne - it must be my big feet - she laughed again.

\- She was light and like a fairy and her shoes were number nine?* - Diana sang and giggled as well.

They laughed some more but then decided to continue to school. First mr Phillips still did not approve of tardiness. And second, Diana needed to get rid of her shoes and warm her toes a bit at the stove. 

\- Anne - said Diana thoughtfully on the way - I am not sure anybody at school has feet big enough to compare with you...

Anne looked at her in amusement. Diana smirked.

\- Not big enough to be able to walk on the drifts instead of through. So perhaps...don’t show them that? 

Diana knew her school mates of old and while she didn’t mind Anne’s queer ways, she was sure some would. And last thing she wanted was to Anne to suffer being ostracised again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * yes, that song existed in 1890’s. Not sure if known in Canada but let us assume it was. 
> 
> Also, I am no expert on tree diseases so apologies if you are a tree specialist and find details in this chapter rubbish as concerns dendrology. It’s fiction anyway.


	4. Truth or dare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Are you ready for some teenagers fun? Here is an afternoon filled with games for you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is no doctor or doctor-to-be around here so nobody falls down from the roof. The roof does not feature here either. ;)   
> Still I hope you enjoy this roofless doctorless part of the story.

It was a splendid summer afternoon. The August sun was shining brightly at the lush green around them. There was a slight breeze in the air that brought about a subtle salty hint of the ocean. The flowers in all the gardens were in full bloom, sending their enrapturing scents into the world around. Anne wasn’t sure she wouldn’t rather be now in her own garden, laying comfortably on soft grass, with one of her beloved books. Or perhaps she could wander along the beach, jumping on stones and collecting sea shells, watching frightened crabs scuttle away under her feet and listening to distant cries of sea gulls circling above her head. As it was, she was walking on the dusty main road of Avonlea, arm in arm with Diana, on their way to the Pye house. Josie invited them to an afternoon of games and fun. Anne was not sure, knowing Josie, whose fun it will be. But Diana was definitely determined to attend. And determined that she can’t do so alone. And determined Diana was a force to be reckoned with. Hence Anne was where she was.

They arrived last. Everybody else from their class was already there, sitting on garden chairs or straight on the grass itself, in the shade of the big oak tree that grew in the corner of Pye garden. Well, of course everybody but Gilbert Blythe who was now presumably sailing on some distant exotic waters. And this fact was solely responsible for Ruby looking particularly dreamy and sad as she sat hunched in a whicker armchair at the garden table loaded with delicacies. Not that Ruby ever lacked her sad look. It was only some different kind of sadness. Missing kindness from someone at hand versus missing someone far away. Anyway, the rest of the teenagers were laughing and talking animatedly and seemed in best of spirits. Well, they needn’t to worry about Josie Pye or Billy sneering at them, thought Anne.

It wasn’t long after when Josie, true to the proper hostess spirit, spoke out over the chatter suggesting they play a parlour...or rather a garden game to spice things up.

\- Let us play a game - she started - I know of one that is all a rage in Charlottetown these days as my cousin lately informed me...

Diana caught Anne’s gaze and rolled her eyes to indicate her amusement at Josie’s way of speaking. Anne stifled a giggle. Yet she was a bit anxious where Josie’s idea will lead.

\- It’s called ‘truth or dare’ - Josie continued - how it is played is that the starting person chooses another player who in turn has to choose truth or dare. Upon choosing truth he is asked a question that must be truthfully answered, upon dare receives a task to complete. Then he or she can pick another player for a challenge. 

\- What happens if they tell an evident lie or fail to complete the task? - asked Moody with interest.

\- Well, they are in for eternal shame. And of course the initial asking player can continue and pick another person. Shall we start?

Josie looked around to see faces raging from frowns to broad smiles but most of her guests nodded uncertainly nevertheless.

\- Okay, Ruby, you start. We need you to cheer up.

\- Yes. So...uhm...Tillie, truth or dare?

\- Truth.

\- What is your favourite past-time?

\- Oh, baking - Tillie smiled at the thought. Nobody raised an objection so Tillie took the lead. - Cole, truth or dare?

\- Truth.

\- Oh...uhm...have you ever kissed...as in kissed...a girl?

\- No - replied Cole and continued without waiting for any reaction to his answer - Diana?

\- Dare - replied Diana unflinchingly.

\- Show us your most knightly side.

At this Diana took a serving spoon from a platter of strawberries and charged at Cole with a mock serious expression. He fended best he could.

\- Okay - said Diana , replacing the spoon - Paul, truth or dare?

\- Oh, truth.

\- What colour are your knickers today? - Diana winked at him as they were neighbours of old, several boys laughed at the question while Ruby and Tillie gasped at her boldness.

\- Green polka dots - he replied easily and since there was no proper way to check his truthfulness they had to let it pass. - Moody, truth or dare?

\- Dare? - Moody was obviously appalled by both options.

\- Sure. Put on Josie’s hat, lean over the fence and ask the first passerby how does it fit you.

Josie huffed but agreed to give Moody her hat, pale violet one adorned with a big purple now. He bravely put it on and it clashed funnily with his reddened cheeks. Then he looked out at the street. Unfortunately, the day was hot and not many people were willing to venture outside. Moody waited patiently, sweating under his new adornment. Girls gathered under the tree and started some gossip, Anne went to admire the clump of lilies in the corner and boys were openly laughing at Moody’s predicament. Finally a person appeared at the end of the street and approached the fence bordering Pye residence. Moody gathered all courage he had and asked.

\- Uhm...reverend....is my new hat becoming me? - he asked quickly and without hearing the reply quickly disappeared behind the fence again. He never saw the reverend’s expression but girls giggles told him all there was to know. Paul clapped him on the shoulder, stiffling a laugh.

\- Alright, Josie - Moody gave her back the hat - truth or dare?

\- Truth.

\- What was your most embarrassing moment? 

\- It will be next Sunday - Josie replied coolly - when I will have to wear this hat to the service. Jane, truth or dare?

\- Dare.

\- Brave. Race around the garden three times cackling like a hen.

To everybody’s surprise Jane was a good runner and even better imitator of animal noises. She shrugged off their praises.

\- Billy - she grinned maliciously - a dare for you?

\- What would you wish me to do, my little sister? - sneered Billy.

\- Show some appreciation for our gracious hostess and her skills. There are I think some splendid meringues with vanilla filling right there. Why don’t you eat one per each year of your life and one extra for the future?

Josie didn’t need such forced appreciation but Jane rather liked tormenting her brother in moments when he couldn’t well torment her back.

Billy started on meringues right away, to the cheers of his cronies. First five disappeared easily. He was more pensive consuming the sixth and the seventh. Whatever you could say about Josie, she was not mean and her meringues were fair-sized. He went on, slowing down more and more as sugar filled him to the brim. He turned positively green on the face around the twelfth but Jane only agreed for a half glass of water to flush them with. Yet his stubbornness...or, as Diana whispered to Ruby, stupidity...took him on and he managed the whole lot. He felt he had had enough meringue to last him a lifetime. He also felt pretty sick and just needed someone to take it out on. And who better than...

\- Anne of Green Gables - truth or dare?

Anne considered her options. Either was sure to be horrific, coming from Billy. Yet she felt leaving the party now was no option.

\- Oh, fine. Dare please.

\- Since you insist you are not a dirty doggie, prove it. Climb the chicken coop. Dogs can’t.

\- Oh, just the chicken coop - Anne flared up - this is childish, why don’t we find something better suited for a dare like... - she looked around - ...this grand oak tree in the corner?

\- Suit yourself - Billy grinned.

Now it was boys turn to gasp. Unbeknownst to Anne, who was still new to Avonlea, the Pye’s oak tree was considered an ultimate challenge for all tree climbers in the area. It was legendary even. Surely no one they could remember managed to climb it. Their dads remembered one boy did some forty years ago but then the tree grew some more since. Even though it grew next to the fence, it was still a mighty task as lowest branches were very high.

But Anne knew nothing of this so she removed her shoes and stockings to assure a better grip and went up to the tree.

\- Anne, don’t, it’s dangerous - pleaded Diana who knew something about the legendary specimen in front of them.

\- Diana dearest, I shall be F-I-N-E - Anne assured her and, stroking the tree trunk gently with her forefinger, addressed the oak - may I?

She then reached out her hands to embrace the tree, wiggled her toes into the bark as much as she could and proceeded upwards. She looked positively glued to the tree whenever she paused for breath and the tree seemed to hug her back if possible. Soon she reached the first branches and swung herself gracefully onto one. From then on she climbed effortlessly up and up until she paused at one of the topmost thick boughs. She sat down carefully, legs dangling in the air and called to her peers standing below, looking at her with fear (girls), awe (boys) or pure hate (Billy).

\- Is this high enough?

Billy nodded reluctantly. He had no choice but do so. Anne didn’t know it but that day she went up a few steps in the eyes of all her male colleagues who ever attempted to climb the Pye’s oak.

\- Okay - shouted Anne - Charlie, truth or dare?

\- Truth? - he said hopefully.

\- What do you really think about mr Phillips? 

\- Shhh, Anne - admonished Josie - Charlie? - she prompted him quietly.

\- Oh, uhm...he is a prick, I guess.

\- Good guess it is - chuckled Diana - now I am bored with this game, let’s do something else. Anne, come down!

\- Oh, no, I like it here - Anne was dreamily looking at the sky through the green leaves - chillier, more air, no pricks. You go without me for a moment.

\- Scared to go down? - Billy smirked - need a ladder?

\- Not at all - said Anne and promptly skipped down a few branches and slid down the trunk - if you so insist at my presence let me suggest next game. Consequences?

Later, when the sun was setting down, Anne and Diana were walking back home through the woods. The golden red sun-rays shot horizontally through the trees, landing gently on their faces, making Anne’s hair positively radiant. They heard an early owl hooting in the distance.

\- You know, Di - Anne said breaking out of her reverie - I should mark this day with a red ink in my diary, had I one.

\- Why is it so?

\- I attended a Pye party and did not embarrass myself once - smiled Anne - maybe fate is not such an evil creature after all.

\- Tell this to Moody - was Diana’s answer.


	5. A lot about hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it is the second November in Avonlea for Anne. She takes a walk to the cliff with Cole. And Xmas panto is in preparation.

\- Doesn’t the island look just like a great pancake sprinkled ever so slightly with powdered sugar? - Anne asked Cole as they were walking through the open fields in the last days of November while the snow was falling delicately upon their shoulders and the whole of PEI. 

Well, walking was a bit of an understatement in describing their progress. In reality they were rushing wildly from place to place whenever fancy took them, arms wide pretending they were crows or maybe eagles - who knows?, laughing to the chilly wind. 

\- So we must be blueberries thrown on top for a good measure?

\- Oh, no. I definitely feel more like a wild strawberry.

\- Is it caused more by your wild mood or your hair colour? - teased Cole.

He was probably right now the only person on earth who could touch upon the latter subject without facing Anne’s wrath.

\- Oh, yes. The kettle calling the pot black - Anne shot back.

\- Black you wish!

\- I will get you for this! - cried Anne in mirth and they run some more towards the edge of the cliff already visible in front of them.

They both slowed down, panting and peered down at the ocean beneath their feet.

\- Pity Diana had to practice piano today, I miss her - said Anne.

They stood some time in silence, glee giving way to serene contemplation. 

The pancake was getting slowly more and more sugared, white covering all its uneven surfaces, hiding away any imperfections it might have. Snowflakes were gathering in Anne’s untamed hair and on Cole’s cap and melting on their noses. The sea in front of them was silvery gray like liquid steel, giant waves crushing upon the beach below them with thundering splashing noise. White foam circled around the big rocks on waterfront. Equally steel like clouds travelled above them from the north, thrusting fresh whirlwinds of snow onto the island. 

\- I wish I could draw like you, so I could capture this forever - Anne broke the silence.

\- Perhaps your skill complements mine. I draw to evoke words in people’s minds. Your words do just the opposite.

\- It is a pretty thought. If I ever write a book, will you illustrate it for me? 

\- Even if I have to travel back across the million seas - smiled Cole.

They stood some more in silence, looking ahead. Again it was Anne who broke it whispering - What do you think when you look out at the ocean like that?

\- That if I was a wild goose, I could just spread my wings and fly off on the wind, to freedom and infinite space, far from condescending looks and judging remarks. I feel the world has so much more to offer than just hoeing potatoes. So perhaps some day I will do just that - fly off away with the wind. - he paused for a while - and you? 

Anne was pensive for a moment.

\- If we were on the other side of the island I would probably say that I look out towards Bolingbroke where I was born and think of my parents long gone and wonder how life would turn out were they still with us. But on this side... - she trailed off.

\- Perhaps you think of a certain someone sailing the ocean right now despite exciting gold prospects in Avonlea? - Cole quirked a brow looking at Anne sideways.

\- Oh, Diana was gossiping about my foreign correspondence I see - Anne smiled, blushing slightly - but no, well, rarely. Most often I like to imagine what lies far yonder beyond the horizon, behind the curve of the Earth. I feel certain at times like this, looking ahead, that this is where our ultimate heaven lies, a safe haven for everyone*. And just when a person feels their time is near, he or she onboards a small sailboat with the sail made of moonshine beams and sail lonely towards all souls port beyond the farthest seas. This must be the explanation of the strange longing for home I have when gazing at the vast waters ahead of us.

\- Then you imagine for yourself a seaman’s heaven? 

\- Or a viking. I read once that they had a tradition of ship burials...where the body was placed in a boat specially built for the occasion, set adrift and then shot with a flaming arrow so it could burn and spread the ashes in water. Now this would make such a romantic ending to my story...maybe a beautiful viking princess could be a main heroine, tragically killed by her unrequited love...

Anne and Cole turned their backs to the wind and the sea and slowly made their way back, Anne thinking about the plot of her new story, Cole carefully storing away in his mind Anne’s words about safe souls haven for future use as a picture theme.

***

All the girls from Anne’s class were gathered in the corner of the town hall. It was to be the first meeting for those involved in the preparation of Christmas panto. They were still waiting for mrs Lynde who was in charge and chatting to kill the time.

\- There was no panto last year - observed Anne - is this the first one?

\- Oh, no - said Tillie - it is prepared every other year, alternating with carols concert. We had that last year.

\- Did you girls always take part?

\- We usually acted as maids of the elven queen when we were small - Jane smiled at the memory.

\- Since this year we are so much more mature we can cast for main roles - added Josie.

\- What are the options? What is the story anyway? - asked Anne, curiosity impersonated.

\- It is the same for years - explained Diana - it features a boy rescuing the world, an elven queen giving humans a magical tree, a menacing lobster, a not-so-brave knight, an all-knowing owl...

\- Oh, a usual BOY rescuing the world... - muttered Anne.

\- Yes, but mrs Lynde usually casts a girl in this role... - started Josie.

\- She thinks boys are too dumb to remember the lines - chuckled Jane.

\- ...as they are slimmer and more graceful. Oh, I do hope so for this role. I am sure I am the best fit - continued Josie.

\- Anne, you could be an elven queen! - exclaimed Diana - it would suit your otherworldly looks and outdoor spirit!

\- Who ever heard about red-haired elf? - protested Anne - you would make a far better queen of elves Di, with your beauty and kind smile...

\- True - said Josie looking at Anne down her nose - Anne lacks looks for sure.

\- Ruby - Diana decided to move attention away from Anne’s appearance as she knew her friend felt too insecure about the topic - which role do you fancy?

\- Oh...I would die of embarrassment as if I had to speak a line as I would surely forget it all. I will ask for a background role. 

\- Assigning roles yourselves? - Billy Andrews entered the town hall and approached the girls with a malicious grin - Jane, with your talent for hopping around, knight’s horse sounds the best role to try for. And orphans - Billy glared at Anne - can hope at most for the role of an apple tree, so as little is visible of them as possible.

\- Billy! - Diana was enraged - I am certain Anne would prefer something more...

\- Exotic? - sneered Billy - ask mrs Lynde to make it a pineapple tree.

\- Pineapples don’t grow on trees - Anne couldn’t stop herself from correcting him.

\- So bananas...

\- Let mrs Lynde decide - Jane was adept at cutting Billy short. 

An hour and a half later the meeting was concluded and the girls huddled again in the corner, putting their coats and hats on before heading home.

Josie got her heart’s wish and was given the role of the boy. Diana was casted as the queen of elves as Anne predicted. Ruby and Tillie were happy with background roles. Jane was to help mrs Lynde order people backstage. And Anne...

\- So tree it is for you? - Josie teased her.

\- At least she does not have to learn any lines - Ruby tried to point out the pros of the situation to Anne.

\- I already know half of the play by heart, I read the script when mrs Lynde was watching trials for the knight.

\- Then you could be our prompter? - asked Tillie.

\- The tree cannot well speak. Even magical one - snorted Josie - I think, Anne, you would make a good tree, your plain brown dress blending nicely with the trunk.

\- But her hair would fit rather an autumn tree - pondered Jane in all innocence, forgetting how tricky it was to mention Anne’s hair to her - while apples grow still in the summer.

Anne was so angry she thought she would combust by now but before she had a chance to speak, Josie interjected.

\- She can always dye it green.

Diana squeezed Anne’s hand tightly and dragged her out of the town hall before anyone could add any more unpleasantnesses, consciously or not.

\- Anne - she whispered - I know you are so disappointed. But maybe... just maybe... it can console you a tiny bit...I think you understand trees best of us all?

\- Diana - Anne squeezed back Diana’s hand fondly - I don’t care as long as we have the sweetest most beautiful elven queen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * inspired partly by a Polish shantie song verse:  
> gdzies tam na krancach wielkiej wody  
> gdzies tam gdzie gina wszystkie drogi...  
> gdzies tam, gdzie siedzi stary, siwy Bog  
> jest dom naszych wszystkich dusz.  
> which is basically about safe haven beyond the seas.


	6. Kill me now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, the year has passed and our favourite kids play a game once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this, I wanted them in the woods, carefree and playful, some more and game sounded a good idea. Not that they don’t do anything else at school of course ;)

Another year has passed and October came again upon Avonlea with its red and golden hues and cold but bright sunshine. The air was full of smells so typical of autumn. The dried leaves, the smokes of bonfires, late apples, roasted pumpkin, that ‘ just before frost’ smell that is so hard to describe properly. And the noises as well changed from those of the summer - gentle swish of grass moved by the wind was replaced by sound of leaves crunching under boots, the distant roar of the ocean picked up ever so slightly, joyous chirping of birds in the trees gave place to the cries of geese flying overhead. 

Anne and Diana were discussing all those aspects of autumn as they walked together through the woods on their way to school. Anne was sure ms Stacy would give them some project connected with the new season. They arrived at school to find most of their peers there but no sign of ms Stacy. After a few more minutes of waiting, during which girls chatted huddled together at the stream bank and most boys played some ball game, one of the Pauls was dispatched, following common agreement, to check on their teacher at her house. It was certainly not like her to be so late. 

He returned half an hour later with news.

\- Ms Stacy caught a cold. She says she should be ok by Monday but cannot join us today. She suggested that since the day is so lovely we organise some outdoor game ourselves.

This information was met with gasps of awe and shouts of joy at unexpected freedom. 

\- Should we play another round of truth or dare? - suggested Josie.

\- Oh no, this is boring - complained Jane.

\- Boys can play ball, girls can take care of themselves as they are no good at it - suggested Jake*.

\- First you never know - huffed Diana indignantly - second, ms Stacy seems to want us all to play together. 

\- Oh, I have an idea - squealed Anne - I read recently about a game that sounds just as something we need. It is called Assassin game**.

Clearly nobody else read about it as everybody’s first reaction was a silent stare. Josie shook herself the quickest.

\- How is it played? - she asked.

\- Well, first each participant signs his name on a small scrap of paper, then all papers are tossed together and everyone pulls out one scrap again. This is their first intended victim. The players then disperse in the agreed area and try to eliminate each other. Once a person is eliminated, the assassin takes over his or her intended victim as the next target. The winner is a person who manages to eliminate the other of the two last surviving players.

\- Sounds fun - said Diana and Paul simultaneously.

\- Oh, sounds scary - said Ruby.

\- Don’t worry, we won’t kill for real - said Josie - I say we give it a try.

\- How do we kill? - asked Moody - I mean how do we let know intended victim we got them?

\- Chalk mark? everyone has chalk - suggested Tillie - and this way no one can cheat and say he hasn’t been killed.

This was met with approving nods.

\- We shall still agree on the area - reminded Anne - I suggest we keep the front of the school as a gathering point for all persons eliminated. Then we can play in the area between school on one side, Barry’s house on the other and the lake and main road as side lines? 

\- Makes sense - said Josie.

\- What if at some point an assassin gets a scrap with his or her own name? - asked Gilbert.

\- Oh, good question. There was nothing about this in the piece I read - admitted Anne - let me think...in the initial draw anybody who does so can raise a hand and we retoss a few scraps and redraw?

\- Okay...

\- Then during the actual play one can get scrap with his or her own name from a victim. Perhaps we can agree he or she then raises a hand and shouts out so a few other colleagues can come and swap victims with this person. Hand raised then means also the person is for a moment immune to kills to keep it fair. However there will be also a case when...

\- There are just two assassins left - finished Gilbert.

\- Now this is easy - Josie seemed to have a quick grasp on games - the quicker wins. To avoid going all the time back to school to check how many people are out let us say when outed players see only three assassins are left they give a whistle, when two are left they give three whistles. By that time we should have enough outed so don’t worry Ruby, if you can’t whistle so loud - she smiled at her friend.

\- Right, all set so we can begin - said another Paul.

Everybody took out their pens while Charlie prepared scraps of paper and distributed them. Then they all put the scraps into Jane’s hat and drew. Poker faces alternated with smiling ones as everyone checked whose name was on their draws. 

\- Anybody drew self? - asked Josie - no? Great. Let us give ourselves five minutes to disperse in the area and we can begin.

As everybody turned to leave, Anne quickly grabbed Diana’s hand.

\- Diana, come help me, we need to take off the pinafores, it will just take a minute.

\- But why?

\- So your mother won’t scold you for staining it - Anne teased - I am joking...it is just how do you expect to crawl stealthily in the forest dressed all white?

\- Good thinking - they removed the offending pieces of clothing and put them in their lunch baskets, then run together towards the woods.

\- Anne, how do you know I did not draw you? - grinned Diana.

\- Oh, I marked my scrap with a small dot on the outside, I saw scrap you drew has no dot - Anne smiled - ok, time to part. Good luck my bosom friend! - they blew kisses to each other before disappearing into the forest.

+

Jake reached the Lake of Shining Waters (which, not being a particular friend of Anne, he called Barry’s Pond) fairly quickly. As he emerged from the woods the sun reflecting from the water blinded him temporarily. Before he had a chance to properly restore his vision, something hit him hard in the chest. He looked down to see a white chalk mark on his front and chalk piece laying on the ground. He looked back up and only then made out a shape of Diana Barry standing at the water edge, her dark blue dress almost invisible on the background of pond water. 

\- It looks as the girls are good at something - she said, visibly gloating - judging by the time first kill of the game is mine.

He could only glare at her with narrowed eyes, then he threw his scrap of paper on the ground, turned on his heel and disappeared into the woods again. Diana giggled while she stooped to pick up the paper and her chalk.

+

Anne groaned inwardly seeing ‘Charlie Sloane’ written on her scrap. Why couldn’t anybody else finish him off before her? She didn’t think he would be a good sport when losing but then she really wanted to do well in this game. So off she went in search. 

She came out on the road that marked the sideline of their field when she saw him standing there. He must have seen some gleam in her eye because he immediately turned round and started to run away along the road. Now Anne knew she could not possibly catch up to him on the road. She was a good runner but not that good to catch boys who were taller and according to generally accepted opinion so much more resilient than girls. But the woods...oh the woods would be a different story. Anne knew by experience how walking on grass and moss seemed to give new spring to her step and pour fresh energy into her very being. Therefore she turned back to the woods and run swiftly parallel to the road. Soon she overcame Charlie, of which he only got aware once she jumped out back on the road in front of him marking his sleeve with chalk. 

\- Got you - she laughed.

\- It is uncanny how quickly you made it here - he replied looking at her with hostility - maybe Billy was right - he added venomously.

\- How so? 

\- In claiming you are a witch.

Anne felt her anger boil under her skin. She knew he was not the one to like losing to a girl. But nevertheless she kept her temper under control.

\- You are surely not so silly as to believe such rubbish*** - she said cooly - pass me your victim, please.

+

Tillie was walking slowly through the forest along the lake, looking around from time to time. Suddenly she screamed as she heard a loud thump behind her and at the same time something brush her back. She turned to see one of the Pauls who evidently just dropped down from the tree that grew to the side of the path.

\- Killed you! - he cried joyously.

Then it was his turn to scream as he felt a tight grip on his ankle. He looked down to see a pair of arms sticking out of the reeds, one holding his leg, the other covering his shoes with chalk drawing.

\- And I got YOU - said the other Paul - emerging from the reeds - this is what you get for killing the nicest girl at school - he winked at Tillie who giggled - now your feet are cut off and you are dead, bud. It was worth getting wet to see it.

\- That was quick punishment - agreed his pal handing him scrap of paper and motioning to Tillie to do same - but now off you go hunting while two ghosts here walk together back to school. So as you see I can make it up to her nicely.

+

Moody never knew how he got so close to Julia Bell without tripping up and her hearing him. But he somehow did. True, he did trip up in the very end. But only ended in marking her dress with chalk as he was supposed to do, before scrapping his knee on the roots. She smiled kindly and handed him her scrap before going off in the direction of the school.

+

\- Oi, anybody here? I need help!

Paul heard it just as Tillie and the second Paul disappeared around the bend. Anne heard the cry just as Charlie finally relented and thrust his scrap upon her before strolling angrily away, so she run in the direction of the cry before even looking at the name of her new victim. They both entered a small clearing in the middle of the forest at the same time, closely followed by Josie and Jane. They saw Moody with his hand raised.

\- I got my name off Julia, help me out - he pleaded.

They all mixed their scraps and drew again. Nobody seemed to draw self so they parted.

+

Ruby walked through the forest slowly. She was very proud of herself. She never imagined she would be good at this killing game! And yet she managed to get Andrew just at the very beginning, jumping at him from behind a tree. Now she has just got Paul in a similar manner. She looked happily at her newest scrap of paper she took over from the latter. Gilbert Blythe. Oh - she sighed inwardly - maybe, just maybe, she can find him in the woods and then he can look at her finally with a new understanding...

She startled at the noise behind her. But it was too late. When she turned, she faced Josie who had just managed to make a small chalk cross at her back. She handed her papers meekly to her, indicating the last one. Josie narrowed her eyes reading it, then looked at Ruby sadly.

\- I am sorry dear, I guess you wanted that one more try. Still you did very well today. You know this, right?

They smiled at each other before going in opposite directions.

+

Josie walked a few hundred meters when she heard a loud whistle. She knew now there were only three at this game. And since obviously she knew the identity of two, she wondered briefly about the third. She guessed she would learn soon enough. Only she never expected to learn quite so soon. As only thirty seconds later she virtually bumped into Anne who stood quietly in the middle of a clump of bushes Josie intended to pass through.

\- Anne, I never saw you standing there - she exclaimed at the same time as Anne calmly made a small chalk mark on her arm - why, you blended perfectly with the surroundings!

\- I guess then that a brown dress and autumn hair may prove useful - the other girl laughed - as long as you chuck out the pinafore. I see you had same idea?

\- Yes, violet is still easier to hide than white among the foliage here.

Josie handed Anne a big stack of paper scraps.

\- You did well, I see? - Anne smiled at Josie, adding Josie’s part to her own equally big stack.

\- Same as you. I think we discovered a game girls excel at. Who was your last victim?

\- Jane. Brown won with yellow in terms of camouflage, it seems. Yours?

\- Ruby. But most of my stack I got off Diana.

Anne beamed with pride.

\- Alright, off you go, you heard the whistle? I will go ask boys to give three more. Good luck to you!

\- You speak almost as if you liked me - Anne teased her.

\- Well, don’ t tell anyone, they would never believe - Josie snapped back to her usual style but despite her efforts Anne hugged her before departing.

Josie went back to school thinking she would have never believed if anybody had told her that morning she would be exchanging friendly hugs with Anne Shirley-Cuthbert in the middle of the woods.

+

Gilbert spent most of the game sitting quietly and comfortably behind a tree, leaning back on the fence of Barry’s estate. He preferred to wait until his victim stumbles upon him than roam the woods in all directions. He felt warm and content in the autumn sun, he was smart enough to bring a book with him so he could kill time and he managed to induce Minnie May Barry, who was playing in her garden, to share her biscuits with him. All in all a good deal. But now he heard three whistles in the distance and decided it was time to stretch a bit. He stood up, walked around the trees a bit and raised his arms above his head to shake off any remaining numbness from sitting so long in one position on the ground. And then...

He nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard his name whispered just behind his back.

\- Gilbert Blythe?

He never heard any sound that would indicate somebody approached him. No broken twig, no crunch of dry leaves, nothing. Until the voice he thought he recognised. Instead of jumping he turned around violently, only to brush his jacket against something pointed. Seconds later he realised it was a piece of chalk Anne hold in her extended hand.

\- Anne Shirley-Cuthbert - he exclaimed - you will be the death of me. Or quite literally you are - he added.

\- Technically it was a suicide - she chuckled - but I would argue it counts. You are out.

\- Congratulations - he smiled at her handing her his scrap of paper.

\- Only one? - she raised her eyebrows - you did not exert yourself today. You sat here two hours doing nothing?

\- Oh well, it is a strategy to run around and finish off as many victims as possible. But it is a strategy as well to keep to one victim and wait it out.

\- Oh, really, mr Smart? If we all used it, we would be sitting here till Christmas.

\- This is why I made sure to draw a victim who was sure to employ a different strategy.

\- And how did you do it, I ask? - cried Anne.

Gilbert pointed to a small dot at the reverse side of the scrap of paper he just gave her.

\- I saw you making this dot. And thought you were just the type of victim I needed. Only you never ended a victim. But still it was worth the try. Why did you do that by the way?

\- To be sure Diana had drawn someone other than me before giving her a hint about dressing... uhm...down - they both glanced down at her pinafore-less form - But still...I never knew anybody saw that.

\- See, since my name is so much shorter than yours I had time to look around waiting for you to finish - he teased her.

\- Of all the... - Anne started but Gilbert interrupted her innocently.

\- Don’t go and marry Moody, Anne - he said keeping his face straight.

\- What?

\- Anne Shirley-Cuthbert-Spurgeon-Macpherson would be a mouthful - he grinned.

\- And what business it is of yours?

\- None whatsoever. As long as you don’t ask me to help you write down wedding invitations.

\- Lucky you I can’t imagine why would I do that. Unless...oh, never mind. Come on - she swirled around and stormed off back to the woods, moving so quickly he had to jog to catch up to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * I added some school kids to this story that were not prominent in the movie, some names stem from the book, some purely from my brain.
> 
> ** I know this game was invented in 1980’s but let’s just suppose it was known in Canada late xix’th century and promptly forgotten. Also - I know they did not evaluate all possible scenarios what can happen and how with drawing self but let it pass pls.
> 
> *** Anne was too polite to say ‘billshit’ of course.


	7. The world turns upside down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now we arrive at what I designed since beginning as the crux of the story. No more subtle hints guys, we are in the open now. Anne plunges deep into her root-revealing quest, starting by accidental encounter that startles her no end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU starts here for real.
> 
> Also note i change rating - there are mentions of abuse in this chapter. Nothing too explicit but still there.

Anne was walking back home from her visit with Ka’kwet. She went to tell her all about schools, as she had promised she would before Easter. Because today Matthew needed Belle, she had to actually travel the distance on foot but she didn’t mind. Spring has finally come and the woods were full of fresh green and joyful chirping of birds. The afternoon sun was shining brightly. Anne daydreamt as was her habit about princesses and castles, fairies and dryads. She stopped occasionally to cuddle a tree or pick a flower to weave it into her hair and she very much cherished the time like now when she could take a break from her studies for the exam. 

Suddenly she stopped for good in her tracks and blinked in surprise. She figured she should have come by now to the edge of the Lake of Shining Waters. Instead, she stood in front of a small stone cottage...or perhaps a hut would be a better descriptor for an abode so perfectly fitted in the middle of the forest. The house stood in a small clearing, surrounded by a low stone dyke, all covered in green creeping plants with white and blue flowers. Between the wall and the walls of the hut a garden stretched, filled with blooming tulips and daffodils. A few shrubs of lilac grew at both sides of the cottage door, the buds on their branches already swollen in anticipation of May. A single plum tree stood proudly guarding the gate in the wall, its pinkish blooms in full swing already. Anne came closer to the tree, unable to contain her need to inhale its scent as well. She jumped as she heard someone addressing her in an unknown, strangely melodious language and looked up to see a small middle-aged woman, all frills and curls and dimples and smiles, standing in the now open cottage door.

\- Excuse me? - Anne said.

\- Oh, I am sorry for startling you - the woman said - I thought you were here for The Only Shelter - she added as a clarification that only made Anne more confused.

\- No, I was actually going to Avonlea but I must have taken a wrong turn.

\- Yes, last but one you turned left instead of right if you were coming from the Mi’kmaq village - she came up to the gate and now they both stood facing each other with the gate in between.

\- I am Anne Shirley- Cuthbert - Anne reached out and smiled brightly as the other woman solemnly shook her hand - Anne with an E.

\- I am Ms Lavendar Lewis and this is Echo Lodge - she pointed at the house - Would you like to have tea with me? I have just made it and would appreciate company as my little maid has a day out. It will take you long enough to go back to Avonlea so you will be late for tea there I guess.

\- I would like it very much indeed - Anne was ecstatic at the adventure - I love your little place already and feel sure you living here must be a kindred spirit.

They took their tea out to the garden and soon sat together at a small iron bench, porcelain dainty teacups and plate full of perfectly turned out cream cookies in front of them on the small table.

\- So you are a relative of Marilla and Mathew Cuthbert? - asked Ms Lavendar once she poured out their tea.

\- I have lived with them ever since they adopted me three years ago.

\- And before that? 

Anne thought it was a bit personal to ask as a third or fourth question of a new acquaintance but her hostess was so nice she didn’t mind.

\- I was in an orphanage, with occasional spells of service for different families.

\- Humm... - said Ms Lavendar and looked at her thoughtfully.

\- What was that that you said to me at the very beginning when you saw me at the gate? - Anne felt it was her turn to ask.

\- Uhm...- Ms Lavendar hesitated - it was an Elvish greeting.

Anne stared, temporarily dumbfounded, even though her brain worked so furiously that questions seemed to be overflowing it pretty quick.

\- You see... - her new friend continued - when I saw you standing there, talking to my plum tree, your loose hair in such apparent friendship with the wind, on the path to the Mi’kmaqs which is rarely used by non-Indian humans, I took you for one coming to The Only Shelter.

\- And...what is The Only Shelter? - managed Anne, still completely befuddled.

\- This is what elves call my house. They claim it is the only friendly house for them on the island where they can get food or ask for a bed for night when they come here for some errand or on their journey away.

\- And you thought... - Anne trailed off helplessly.

\- That you are an elven maiden yourself. 

\- Oh - said Anne - oh, I know nothing about it. And besides - she remembered her own argument about elves from the Christmas panto discussion - who has ever seen red-haired elves?

\- I - replied Ms Lavendar simply.

Anne stared.

\- I married one such, for example - Ms Lavendar added.

\- You are... married...to a ...red-haired elf? - Anne asked in total disbelief.

\- I was - Ms Lavendar said quietly - he is gone.

Anne was slow to connect the dots, yet finally managed a question.

\- What happened? I thought...I mean...in the books elves are immortal...

\- They are. Yet it is possible to slay an elf.

\- And he...

\- ...was shot by a poacher. When he tried to defend a small Mi’kmaq kid whom the man threatened with a gun for no reason at all but some twisted fun idea - said Ms Lavendar bitterly - it didn’t help, the man shot the kid too.

\- I am sorry - Anne reached out to touch her new friend’s hand.

\- That is alright...- Ms Lavendar wiped away a stray tear off her cheek - it was twenty years ago coming June. I...I had some time to adjust to the situation. So tell me - she changed the topic - why were you coming back that path?

They spent an agreeable hour in the garden, discussing flowers and Anne’s school plans and Ms Lavendar maid who was called Charlotte the Fourth which last amazed Anne no end. It seemed like the royal name for a servant. 

\- Please come back soon to visit me again - said Ms Lavendar as Anne stood up to leave - we tend to become rather lonely here with Charlotte.

\- I will - promised Anne - I can feel you are a kindred spirit - she hugged Ms Lavendar impulsively - and thank you for sharing with me that bits...

\- You do believe me, don’t you?

\- I do - said Anne thoughtfully - as I have a vast imagination and yet cannot imagine why you would make it up just so... - she waved goodbye and departed.

She still thought about her response while walking back home. As bewildering as Ms Lavendar elven tales were, Anne could not help to believe them. And it wasn’t because she couldn’t imagine her new kindred spirit inventing elven speech. She could. Neither making up an alternate name for her house. Definitely she could. Neither even creating a tragical romance story for herself. She could see Ms Lavendar do that. No, Anne thought that what convinced her that Ms Lavendar meant all she said was the mention of the Mi’kmaq people. As sad as it was, no one else Anne knew would put them in a put up story of their own volition.

***

Next Saturday Anne embarked on a journey that was a second step in her heritage quest. She changed at Aunt Josephine’s into grown up clothes and took the ferry to Nova Scotia. She spent half a day thumbing through the church records of a small church in Bolingbroke where she believed her parents lived. She found her father’s death certificate easily enough:

_Walter Shirley, country of origin: Scotland, died 17th September 1883, cause of death: diphtheria_

__

__

Yet she could find neither her parents marriage certificate nor anything else that would mention her mother. Finally she acknowledged defeat, thanked the minister and left. She looked around and figured she still had some time left before the ferry back. Even though she left the place when she was 6 years old, she still vaguely remembered the way to Thomas place. It wasn’t as big a town after all. 

Anne crossed quickly a few streets and soon stood in front of a small dilapidated house set in an unkempt garden. Decisively she went up the path and knocked at the door. She waited some and then knocked again, a bit harder. Nobody answered. She was just about to leave, assuming the house was either uninhabited or the Thomases were simply away, when she heard a male voice behind her.

\- Oi, how can I help you madam?

Anne remembered in time that her current dress was making her look much older than she really was hence the title given her by the stranger. She moved around gracefully and then stared.

She was standing face to face with a young man, presumably in his early twenties, with broad shoulders and tanned face speaking of manual, outdoor labour. Recognition stirred somewhere at the back of her mind and she ventured:

\- Tommy?

Just as the man, likewise staring, with recognition lighting up in his eyes said:

\- Little Annie?

They both nodded.

\- Mom is a bit deaf, she may not hear your knocking. Or maybe she dozed off. Come on in. - he explained and let her in, to a small, slightly dirty kitchen. He put his head into the adjoining room and retreated with a grin.

\- Yes, dozed off. Can I help you somehow? 

\- I was wondering - Anne explained her purpose - since your place was basically my first placement, if you remember anything about my parents? 

\- Let me think. Yes. Your dad was a local teacher so it was a kind of gossip you know...I remember mom talking with our neighbours that he died of typhoid or something. I am not sure, I was only seven myself then.

\- And my mother? - Anne asked hopefully, eager for tiniest of scrap of memory.

\- Your mom... - Tommy sighed and sat heavily on a creaking chair, motioning for Anne to sit on the other - say, you know it was me who brought you to our house?

\- No - Anne answered - although I remember the small you, you tried to be kind to me I guess, I know you defended me from older kids a few times...but no, not that you brought me here in the first place.

\- See, it was so strange and scary. I was coming back home from the shop where I helped with cleaning. It was dark and chilly, it being autumn. I heard some commotion behind the corner, footsteps, cries. I quickly hid in the shadow of some townhouse entrance. You know how it is better for kids to avoid adults in some areas of our town, right? 

Anne nodded silently, remembering her many errands of old, when she would creep along walls, praying she would not attract unwanted attention.

\- So I stood hidden. Then I saw a young woman run around the corner with something in her arms. I knew her by sight as the teachers wife. She came straight to me, it was uncanny how she did that really. She pushed the bundle in her arms to me and then I realised it was a tiny baby wrapped tightly in a blanket. I hold to it in amazement when she spoke to me. Now her voice was so....I don’t know...urgent...I remember it to this day, how it sent shivers down my back. “The woods are too far. I can’t. Take her. You are a good boy. Take care of Anne for me. Hush now.” Then she ran back to the middle of the road and some more along. 

Tommy looked at Anne briefly, seeing tears welling up in her eyes, before continuing.

\- Then a bunch of men ran from around the corner, they were dirty drunkards really, they ran after her, shouting uhm... obscenities and laughing. I remember I looked at you, saw your small eyes open and begged you to keep quiet. When I looked up again they caught up to you mom. Rounded her. She stood in the middle of them, panic stricken like and then suddenly collapsed to the ground. Those men...some of them crouched and one swore heavily, accusing the others for scaring her to death. They were angry at...missing the fun they said. They dragged her body to the side, into some shrubs and walked away from where they came. Only then I was brave enough to leave my hiding place. I am sorry, but I never checked on your mom. I just...took to my legs and quick as I could run home. I told my mom only that the teachers wife passed me the baby before collapsing on the street. I think now she must have assumed some heart attack or I don’t know. I only myself realised the meaning of the scene when I grew older really.

Anne sat staring mutely ahead of herself. There were some dim, faded memories stirring in her mind, so hard to grasp from under the layers of terror and sadness ones from her Hammonds and orphanage time, them in turn buried deep under so many happy memories from Avonlea. 

_The darkness punctuated by yellow light of candles in the windows...wind on her cheeks...the world swaying up and down up and down...someone’s heavy breathing...distant screaming...tight grasp of sure hands on her body...then the feeling of another grasp, more awkward..._

__

__

Anne always assumed it to be pure imagination of hers but perhaps there was more to it. Perhaps her baby mind remembered an event so heavily infused with intense emotions.

\- Anne? You alright? - Tommy asked with concern.

She shook herself forcefully back to present.

\- Yes, I guess I will be okay.

\- Can you stay longer? Maybe mom can remember some more when she wakes up. You live in Bolingbroke?

\- No, Prince Edward Island. I have to go to catch my ferry back.

\- You still look pale. Are you sure? - he looked at her as she nodded - Can I walk you there? 

They were silent just until they reached the wharf. Anne turned to Tommy before boarding.

\- Tommy...or rather I should say Thomas now?

\- Tommy for you Annie - he chimed in.

\- Tommy - she started again - thank you for sharing the story with me. I know it is also a hurtful memory for you.

\- No problem. Annie, say, you are happy on that island? See, I often thought about you once mom gave you up to those orphanage people. I felt - he gulped - I betrayed your mom then.

\- Tommy, you were too small to be able to prevent it - she patted his arm awkwardly - but I am sure your kind thoughts followed me around - she smiled - thank you for everything.

\- Come back see mom some day. She is senile but maybe she can add to the story?

\- I will see. Bye, Tommy.

\- Bye, Annie. Take care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First note: elves in this story are not necessarily compatible 1:1 with any other fantasy books, although some similarities are there of course and I borrowed freely some concepts from some of such works.  
> Second note: Bolingbroke is a fictional place, let us assume it was smallish and had ferry connection.  
> Third note: I believe Anne mentioned somewhere she was 3m when orphaned...yet the flower book mentioned her first picnic in June or sth...so I gave her parents a few more months with her.  
> Fourth note: I am not good enough in English to write Tommy in a way manual labourers in Canada in xix century spoke. So pls forgive if he does not sound natural enough.  
> Fifth note: Yes, mrs Thomas had some nerve...Thomas Thomas, I ask you!


	8. So what if I am?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne learns what it would mean were she to be a half-elf. 
> 
> Dialogue mostly, sorry. Hope not as boring as could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> be warned - some mentions of child abuse, anxiety attack described very lightly. 
> 
> I am no expert on the post trauma anxiety so if my description feels too artificial, apologise. I didn’t want to go too deep into it, also so as not to write bullshit, I know how difficult it is to live through them and combat it.

It was sometime in July as Anne found herself again on the path to Echo Lodge. School holidays or rather time between Queens was half way through. She was still awaiting her results with apprehension. Likewise she was waiting for any reply for her letter she despatched to Scotland back in April. Today Diana was busy with her piano lessons, Ruby was meeting Moody and with Cole being away Anne had a whole lonely afternoon stretching in front of her. A few months before she would find this perspective bright. Today, with her love life in smouldering ruins, she felt she would just plunge straight into despair if she stayed alone for too long without purpose. She has therefore decided to act on the invitation so sincerely issued and marched resolutely towards Ms Lavendar abode. She could do with such a cheerful company.

\- Anne! - Ms Lavendar exclaimed happily seeing Anne on the path to her front door - how splendid to see you! Come on in.

They hugged laughingly.

\- This is Charlotte the Fourth - Ms Lavendar introduced her little maid, eleven year old who wore light blue dress and matching huge bows in her dark braids - we are just finishing decorating the muffins with icing and sugared flowers.

\- Sugared flowers? - Anne has never heard of such decoration before.

\- Yes Miss - squealed Charlotte the Fourth - I can show you how to do it...

\- Charlotte is a true master of this technique - added Ms Lavendar grinning.

Half an hour filled with artful decorating and much giggling issued. When ready with dessert, they took their tea out to the garden and sat in the shade. Soon Charlotte was up again, running to and fro along the back wall of the garden with a small horn in her hand, playing with the echoes (Anne thought briefly she would have enjoyed being in service had she met caregivers such as Ms Lavendar) That left just Anne and Ms Lavendar around the tea table.

\- I never knew there were elves on the PEI - Anne boldly picked up the topic they discussed last time.

\- None live here anymore as far as I know - said Ms Lavendar - you could double check with your Mi’kmaq friends to be sure, they are better acquainted both with the woods and with the Elder Race than our folk. 

\- Then how did you meet your husband?

\- Oh, I met him on the mainland. There is still plenty of Elven settlements there, not that they advertise it - Ms Lavendar smiled - we agreed to move here so I could be nearer my own family and him still in the midst of the forests wood elves love so much.

\- Wood elves? So there are different uhm... types as well?

\- This is what I always understood, though I know only of wood and mountain tribes.

\- Oh - Anne was silent for a few minutes, listening to the echoes produced by Charlotte - are there any special features you can tell an elf by? - she felt somehow compelled to pursue the subject.

\- Is there any particular reason you are asking?

\- I am wondering about my mother - Anne explained and proceeded to tell Ms Lavendar about her findings from Bolingbroke. Or rather a lack of findings in the church records. And of Tommy’s story. Ms Lavendar was silent for a long while after Anne had finished.

\- Yes - she sighed in the end - there are some aspects of your story that could point to your mother being an elf. 

\- Such as? - Anne asked with curiosity. She was by nownot so much astonished by the fact elves exist, more like interested in evaluating the hypothesis.

\- No church records for one. She wouldn’t be in them as an elf of course. Then her whole escapade in the night. You would not expect a lone mother with a baby to walk around in the evening yet elves don’t mind darkness at all, and remember how easily she spotted or maybe sensed Tommy in the shadows. Also, she mentioned woods as if reaching them would help her and this is a sentiment wood elves certainly hold. And last her unexpected collapse...

Ms Lavendar paused, pondering how to explain best.

\- ...See, the elves don’t work in the same way as humans. A lot of what happens for them is related to their sheer will. You know they are immortal. You know one can slain an elf who does not expect it. Yet - and now I am partly guessing based on what I have heard - if an elf feels he does not wish to live he has two options left. First, most often pursued, is to sail off to The Land of Light. Second, I believe used in extreme cases, is an elf can simply will himself to cease to live at once, will his soul to leave his body at once and go join The Great Painter in The Land of Light, where he will regain a body same as the one left behind. 

\- So if my mother had been an elf... - started Anne.

\- ...sensing danger and after pushing you into hide with Tommy, she could fix those villains attention on her and will herself into oblivion on the spot. - finished Ms Lavendar quietly.

\- Oh - was all Anne could say for some time, but then she continued - then if we assume she were one, what would that mean to me?

\- You would be a half-elf.

\- Huh?

\- You see - Ms Lavendar blushed slightly - my husbands folks explained it to me before we were married, so I would understand what it would mean if we ever had the little ones of our own. 

\- I am sorry you missed the opportunity - Anne touched delicately Ms Lavendar’s hand.

\- It’s alright, Anne. Now regardless if one had an elven parent or grandparent or any other admixture of elven blood, one is always considered a half-elf for simplicity since it works in a similar way. Such person will have the particular skills and characteristics of both humans and elves. Human you know. Elven...let me try to give you the most important ones. They share a unique bond with nature, wood elves with the forests most notably of course. It seemed to me always like the forest gives them an unequalled energy, they move swiftly there, blend in easily. I couldn’t even dream of finding or catching an elf in the woods were he or she not willing me to do it*.

Anne’s mind simply couldn’t but run back to the day of their school assassin game... 

_...walking on grass and moss seemed to give new spring to her step and pour fresh energy into her very being. She turned back to the woods and run swiftly parallel to the road. Soon she overcame Charlie, of which he only got aware once she jumped out back on the road in front of him marking his sleeve with chalk._  
\- _Got you - she laughed.  
_ \- _It is uncanny how quickly you made it here..._

\- And - Ms Lavendar continued - the nature reciprocates the attraction, I have often seen how branches reach out for elven touch, how they seemed to communicate, assist them even...

Anne thought back to Pye party when the tree so kindly helped her up (which she always considered normal but now realised maybe it was not so) or to...

\- Billy’s accident - she gasped.

\- Excuse me? - asked her hostess.

\- Oh, I am sorry for interuption, please go on.

\- Alright - Ms Lavendar smiled to herself, perhaps guessing at what Anne was thinking about - the elven touch I mentioned has a soothing and calming effect on various creatures, humans and elves included. Indeed, it can be nurtured to relieve pain and some elves are highly skilled in the art of healing.

Anne thought this was not something she could put a claim on. True, she helped many kids through fever but with the help of onions in their socks. But was it really so - she wondered as Ruby’s voice repeated in her head:

_Oh, I felt such terrible cramps, you know, in the lower part of my stomach. It was a bit better while Anne was walking me home but then it all returned so I fairly slept the afternoon off._

\- Then - Ms Lavendar continued - of course they are immortal. That one is hard to recognise in oneself - she smiled slyly - but this also means their bodies age only up to certain point. Yet they have the choice to leave this world by the sea should they wish so and sail to The Land of Light. Oh - she explained seeing Anne’s rather confused expression - think of it as a kind of Eden garden, since they were never thrown out of it but wandered off of their free will, they can find the way back. Anyway, The Land of Light kind of calls to them...my husband described it to me as a strange longing he usually had when looking out at sea...

All the times spent on her favourite cliff flashed in front of Anne and her fantasy of All Souls Haven. Perhaps elves and sailors had something in common?

\- Then they are good at arts, but many humans are as well. Elves are particularly good working with jewels, theirs capture light just so splendidly. What else... - Ms Lavendar paused for a second in thought - oh, yes. If they fall in love they are truly faithful and mate for life or for eternity in their case as they all ultimately end in The Land of Light. 

Anne groaned internally at her fate. Were she to be a half-elf, she would be destined to be stuck in that tragical romance of hers apparently. Suddenly though she thought of something else and looked sharply at her interlocutor.

\- Is this also why... - she trailed off shyly.

\- Yes - smiled Ms Lavendar sadly - I cannot truly think of my husband as dead. Elves are much more certain of The Land of Light than we are of heaven, some claim to have known elves who have been there actually, you see. And even if that were not the case, I always somehow felt that marrying him I must follow some elvish customs as well. But - she changed the subject adroitly - one more thing comes to my mind. As I mentioned, a lot of what happens to elves results from their will, it is a fairly complicated matter and I don’t fully grasp it but what I have been told is that uhm...the result of their reproductive efforts comes from will rather than nature regulations. This also means they enter maturity once they feel themselves like it, for most of them it is like fifty or hundred years I believe, not that they couldn’t at any other point in time, and also to broach on unspeakable - Ms Lavendar winked at Anne - their women avoid the infamous visits of mother nature.

Anne blinked rapidly before saying - from what I know it is indeed a blessing.

\- Anything rings familiar to you? - asked Ms Lavendar knowingly.

\- Uhm...ehm...maybe some - admitted Anne - but it is not really conclusive...

\- Oh, I almost forgot - Ms Lavendar clapped her forehead with her palm - elves can be really resistant, survive if needed much longer than humans in the cold, heat, without food...

Anne just had to think back to one of her placements...the lady just liked to punish her denying her food...which seemed to have little effect on Anne...which only enraged the said lady more and more.

\- ...they heal quicker...

_„The lashing from yesterday was not enough?” shouted mr Hammond seeing her already pale bruises on her arms „go out to the yard this instance and lean on the stump”_

Anne froze at the memory, covering in cold sweat. Ms Lavendar saw her scared expression and it was her turn to reach out to Anne’s hand - everything all right honey?

\- Yes, I am sorry. I thought for a moment about my times before Avonlea - Anne breathed deeply a few times to shake those memories off.

\- I can see how this quest of yours can cause just that. I hope in the end it will help you though...oh, by the way! - she exclaimed happily, trying to help Anne out of her unpleasant thoughts - one last thing. The elves don’t leave traces on the snow. It was so funny, my husband loved to pull pranks on me with this ability...whatever is the matter? - she asked seeing Anne’s shocked expression.

\- I thought anybody can not leave traces with enough care...

\- Oh, so you in fact may well be a half-elf if you can pull it through - laughed Ms Lavendar - nope, dear, humans can’t do it**.

Anne was silent. It was really a lot to process.

\- There is then one more thing you should know. While you may possess certain skills of humans and of elves there is a thing unique to half-elves. It is called The Choice***. Their Elvish side is usually kind of default, immortality being considered preferred. Yet they can at any point decide to choose their human side to outweigh and age and ultimately pass away as humans do. And surprisingly quite a lot of them do just that. I may add they live a bit longer than humans though, and retain most of their other elvish skills. 

At that moment Charlotte came back to them, tired of teasing the echo, and they changed the subject. At dusk Anne said goodbye to her new friends and after promising to visit again she went back home. She walked slowly, thinking about her unknown mother. It sounded really fantastic that she could be...and yet...Anyway - and tears stained her face at the thought - Ms Lavendar also interpreted Tommy’s story as Anne’s mother really sacrificing her life for her baby...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * if it sounds like I played too much Battle of Wesnoth against elves...hehe I did at some point so maybe I borrowed this concept from there. 
> 
> ** I know in fact one person who could walk on top of snow drifts if the weather was just right and the soft drifts just covered with thin layer of hard snow...he was very light...everyone else just sunk in...
> 
> *** yes, I borrowed it from Tolkien elves, Tolkien forgive me!
> 
> as I said, my elves are a nice mix of features present in other works and some of my ideas, bear with me pls...its just fic anyway :)


	9. You need to tell someone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne and Diana spend a happy afternoon in the woods.  
> Then we hear of the first day of Anne in Charlottetown.

\- Diana!

Anne burst into Diana’s bedroom where her bosom friend lay curled on her bed, her hair in disarray and tear trails on her cheeks. The room, to which Diana confined herself after the Queens results had come and her parent had clashed with her on the idea of college, was stuffy with summer heat, yet the windows were shaded and the room was semi-dark. Anne’s appearance brought in all the wonders of August countryside afternoon - scents of flowers and wild strawberries, warm light radiating from her smiling face and her fiery hair twirling around as she danced towards Diana, even some hint of warm summer breeze ruffling the stale air as she moved. 

\- Diana, dearest - Anne perched on the edge of bed - I have a most splendid idea what we can do today. Something that is sure to disperse the leaden clouds of broken hearts, ununderstanding parents, school plights and such. Come on - she pulled Diana by hand from her horizontal position - let’s not allow anything to mar our last week together. Whatever lies round the bend of Sunday, we make the most of holidays.

Diana allowed to be pulled up and led out of her room. She always found Anne’s fierce energy somehow seep into her as well, giving her new strength to face challenges. Now with each step down the staircase and then garden path towards the woods she felt her natural optimism growing up again and the pain in her heart subsiding. Soon the girls were strolling through the forest, giggling happily simply from the fact of being together.

\- What’s the plan? - asked Diana.

\- Oh - Anne waved joyfully her basket - we ramble here and there...and then we picnic where our fancy catches us. I asked all the neighbours to contribute to your surprise and I have now all Avonlea’s delicacies in here. Plum puffs of Marilla, fudge from Mrs Lynde, apples from Bash, lemonade from Ms Stacy, meringues from Josie and...Ruby couldn’t come today as she went to shop with her mother but gave us some egg and tomato sandwiches to enjoy. 

\- Anne - laughed Diana - how will we ever manage to eat all this?

\- The physical exercise will surly make us hungry enough. And...I have an extra surprise in mind to top our day. But first let’s race to the stream, I am in dire need of cooling my feet.

\- And running will help you? - asked Diana humorously but set to her heels nevertheless.

They sat at the stream bank and removed their shoes and stockings before cautiously dipping their toes in water.

\- That’s so coooool - cried Diana.

Anne simply reached out and with her palm splashed some water on their legs. More giggles ensued from both parties.

They spent a wonderful hour there, wiggling their feet in crystal clear water, watching the leaves and sky reflecting in the brook’s surface. Small fish came attracted towards them but soon found out nothing edible could be expected. The girls weaved thick flower crowns using flowers that grew on the water edge and replaced their hats with new adornments.

\- Come freckles - exclaimed Anne towards the sun - I need to stock up for the long winter.

They continued then their walk upstream, barefooted and their shoes in their hands.

\- I simply adore the soft feeling of moss and forest grass on my skin, don’t you, Diana? I sometimes feel I could make myself a pillow of the moss and make bed sheets out of this grass and that would surpass even the finest linens and silks and give me oh, such sweet dreams.

\- I am afraid the moss would dry up hard and grass blades simply prove not durable enough for your purpose. - said Diana practically.

\- Huh. Let us then enjoy them here in their full glory. - decided Anne - oh, Diana, see this pretty clearing out there? Come, prince Wisteria, it is the most elegant ballroom to dance with Princess Cordelia!

They run laughingly forward, dropping their basket and shoes at the side, grabbed each other hands and swirled wildly around, spinning faster and faster, eyes raised towards the blueness above them. They collapsed ten minutes later on the ground, dizzy and breathless, and lay for a moment sprawled on their backs waiting for their heart rhythm to calm down.

\- I think - Diana swept her arm above her and around - this is a ballroom much more befitting some handsome and exquisitely beautiful elven prince and princess. 

\- Oh - Anne gasped.

In the following split second all things she mulled over since her last conversation with Ms Lavendar came back to her with double force. She and Marilla sent the letter to Scotland concerning Walter Shirley but Anne never mentioned findings about her mother to anyone but Ms Lavendar. She wasn’t exactly sure why. Perhaps - she admitted to herself - she was scared that even her nearest friends and loved ones would find them so strange and fantastic as to be repulsive in result. And lead to severing Anne’s bond with them or even pushing her away altogether. Perhaps it was then the old fear of being found weird and casted off. Still Anne’s rational voice argued that she must at some point probably share it with her most loved ones. It only seemed fair. And who better start with than...

\- Diana - said Anne decisively.

\- Anne? - Diana turned her head to Anne and sensing her concern grabbed her hand - what happened?

\- It is just...well...you remember how I went to the mainland to search for my parents...and see...uhm...what I found...I am...well...I am fairly certain my mother was an elf.

\- What??? - shouted Diana in disbelief.

Anne’s face fell.

\- But...this is positively screaming! Scrumptious! - Diana’s face broke in a wide smile as she rushed wildly to hug Anne who finally laughed as well as understanding dawned on her that Diana was not in fact repulsed by the revelation - I always told you you would make a splendid elven queen, see? I was right!

Diana jumped up and pulled her bosom friend from the ground.

\- Come on, let’s put on our shoes and walk some more and you simply must tell me the whole story. It is unbelievable! 

They continued their ramble slowly, arms linked, as Anne narrated the meeting with Tommy and his story of her mother passing. She described then briefly Ms Lavendar view on that story.

\- Oh, Anne - Diana turned to Anne, grasping her shoulder gently, tears in her eyes - it is such a tragically sad but also beautiful story. Your mother saved you as the last thing she did in this world...

\- On this side of the ocean, yes - said Anne, wiping away her own tears - but oh, Diana! - she exclaimed a moment later - you don’t know Ms Lavendar! Why don’t we visit her tomorrow? I am sure she will welcome us warmly.

The plans for the next day distracted them for some time from the previous topic. When they finally reached the edge of the woods Anne cried:

\- Diana, here we are now where my surprise for you grows - she patted affectionally a thick tree trunk.

\- This - Diana looked up uncertainly - maple tree?

\- Yes! - Anne shouted in triumph - we must climb it today, it has such a comfortable twisted branch up there where we can sit and enjoy the sunset spectacle over those fields yonder.

Diana eyed the tree sceptically.

\- I have never climbed...

\- This one is easy Di, I will show you. And this is a very ladylike climb, be assured.

\- More like elvenlike - Diana winked.

But she followed Anne up and soon both girls and picnic basket were safely tucked on the aforementioned branch.

\- Welcome to my green castle - laughed Anne peering into the basket - and allow me to treat you to a royal feast.

They devoured sandwiches and plum puffs in silence, taking swigs from the lemonade bottle in between bites.

\- So... - said Diana over the meringue - if your mother was indeed an elf what does it mean for you?

\- That I am a half-elf apparently. And as such I can find a special bond with trees...

\- Oh, that’s unexpected - smirked Diana.

\- ...and perhaps excel in some arts, and be more resilient, and leave no trail on the snow...

\- I knew it was not me being obese! 

\- ...and I could choose to live forever - Anne was looking straight over the horizon by now, thinking about this particular aspect and what the reasons could be to thwart such heritage. She thought she could imagine some.

\- Now this is something worth consideration - admitted Diana.

They were silent for a moment before Anne decided to lighten the mood.

\- And I apparently won’t suffer the monthly flowering time... - she said in mock seriousness.

\- Wow, can you bestow some elvishness on me please? 

They giggled happily under the setting sun.

***

_Dear Gilbert,_

_I..._

Anne broke off. She has never mentioned to Gilbert anything about her lineage quest, let alone her theory about her mother. Well, until today they were not exactly on right terms to do this. And today - Anne mused - the situation changed radically but there was scarcely time for anything. But now, with the book she got from Mrs Thomas by aid of Marilla and Matthew, the book that could in fact become a further proof of the theory...one could argue it was fair to say...to warn? - Anne shook herself mentally - no, she wasn’t yet sure where her relationship with Gilbert would go and how and besides better not to leave such matters to letters. She came to her decision. 

_I look like my mother._

_I can picture now your face, laughing at the extraordinariness of the first sentence of my letter. Letter, I may fairly assume you supposed to be a love letter. Now don’t get alarmed and relax your frown! (see, I know your mimics fairly well by now) Love letter it will be. A lot about love actually. Let me explain._

_Today was the most eventful day ever for me. It was in fact packed so tightly with surprising events I could distribute them along three months and still feel all that time bemused and amazed. It started mildly with the introduction of my new landlady and her maid (oh by the way the allowed time for gentlemen callers are Saturdays 2 to 4. p.m. of course. but I am going too much ahead of myself)._

_Then came the unexpected meeting with Winnie that left me completely befuddled. She scolded me for gloating at her misfortune and only when my perfectly confused expression registered with her she relented enough to tell me you had broken your courtship apparently because of unrequited feelings for humble me. Oh, Gilbert how..but no, again I am going too fast. Besides you may have some idea of my true feelings now. Let me continue._

_I did then the quickest run ever back to the boarding house, probably even quicker than when we sprinted with Diana across the Haunted Woods when Minnie May had croup. I had some fuzzy idea in my head of rushing to where? to look for you but fortunately you appeared in the front yard of the said dwelling and the rest is history I guess._

_Well, suffice to say I hope you have now some better idea of my feelings for you and that I miss you already, my dearest pen pal. Oh why did you have to, in a proper Cinderella spirit, run away at twelve, just as we had a chance to reunite? Chance sweet but short. Do you have a fairy godmother, my handsomest Cinderella, that will grant you a pumpkin carriage to Charlottetown from time to time?_

_After you so fortuitously rescued me from running the countryside to and fro I learnt that my dearest Diana will be after all attending Queens alongside me and not some far away Paris school for young debutantes. It seems France missed an opportunity of welcoming two finest Canadians today, huh?_

_And then oh! Matthew and Marilla reappeared and brought me a book. The book they wormed out from Mrs Thomas’es dusty and forgotten bookcase. Mrs Thomas, in case I never told you that, was the first person I lived with after my parents died. And she took all that remained of their belongings and by some stroke of pure luck, even though she sold or threw out everything else, she kept this book. This book, Gilbert, was a gift from my father to my mother. It is about the language of flowers. From the dedication I learnt my mother was also a teacher, just like my father (which I learnt some time ago from Tommy Thomas) and just like I aspire to be. And behold! At the last page of this book there is a portrait my dad drew of my mum. And Gilbert - here we are - I look like her. Now I know where are my red hair from. And Gilbert! She was so beautiful, can you believe it?_

_I cried hours long over that book. I don’t have to tell you how precious it is to have some actual object to remind you of long gone parents. I feel so relieved, let me tell you, at finding them again and reassuring myself they loved each other and me. Oh, because there are a few sweet notes inside that book mentioning me, done in my mothers handwriting._

_I will mark today in my memory as a day that proved to me I was and am loved by three more people. I hope I am not assuming too much here?_

_Diana told me the story of hers and yours encounter on the train. This sounded hilarious, forgive me for saying this. I owe Diana even more now. But still I hope you will not find yourself ever again at the receiving end of her wrath._

_I know we said we have questions. I have plenty for sure but since this letter is already so packed as my today had been, let me give you the chance to start._

_In anticipation of one - Diana told me you never received my note. How could that be when I left it in the middle of your kitchen table? Perhaps bedroom chests of drawers are a better option for future. Anyway, let me repeat to you that lost note content as parting words of this letter:_

_Dear Gilbert,  
I was confused before. I am no more.  
I love you,  
Anne_

Anne looked up from her writing to her new old book on flowers and a yellowed piece of parchment on top of it. She smiled quietly, pulled fresh piece of paper to herself and began the second letter that night. 

_Dear Ms Lavendar,_

_I hope you and Charlotte are doing well. I hope to visit you soon when I come back for the weekend to Avonlea._

_Tonight just a short note, or rather I question I have for you._

_A certain book that belonged to my parents came into my possession today. I found inside a piece of paper with some writing on it. In unknown to me alphabet I may add. I attach a transcription of the first two lines. Can you tell me..I dare not to hope but would this prove our assumptions about my mother?_

_Yours sincerely,  
Anne Shirley- Cuthbert_


	10. All of importance happens in the woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne makes a journey and meets her distant relatives (yay! I saw some people missed that in the show, here in my AU it was always a plan)  
> And then she must confess her true identity to another important person in her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey ho, enjoy while you can. I think next chapter will be the last.

4 April 1900, Echo Lodge

_Dear Anne,_

_Last autumn I gave you but a briefest answer to your question about the mysterious letter from your book. I am now ready to provide more or rather let me do so by a surprise. Can you please take a morning ferry to Nova Scotia next weekend and bring the letter with you? The answer will be found there._

_Yours,  
Lavendar Lewis_

Anne refolded the letter and looked up over the steel railing at the foaming bubbling waters behind the ferry rear and then further back towards the receding coastline of Prince Edward Island. It was a perfect day for a sea trip, the waters as calm as can be under the blue sky dotted with small plump white clouds. They looked like very content plump kittens thought Anne briefly before coming back to her previous topic. That is what the surprise could be and if she should expect Ms Lavendar on the quay. And if not, what should she do, as the letter gave no further instructions.

Anne disembarked the ferry at its destination as one of the last passengers and looked around hesitatingly. There was no one nearby even remotely similar to her friend. 

\- Anne?

She heard someone speak her name in a strangely melodious voice that reminded her instantly for some reason of Ms Lavendar even though it was definitely a male voice. She turned around and saw a slim tall man wearing a longish gray travel cloak. He had silky fair hair falling below his shoulders and a face she could only describe as beautiful even though handsome would be usually used for members of his gender. He gazed at her serenely with blue eyes that held a queer light in them and handed her a scrap of paper.

\- I have a note for you.

Anne took the proffered note and read its contents.

__

_Anne,_

_The man delivering this note will be able to answer your questions far better than me. He is my friend of old._

_Lavendar Lewis_

She looked back at the stranger and nodded.

\- Yes, I am Anne. The one Ms Lavendar meant.

\- Tinhain - he said simply reaching out a hand.

\- Pleasure to meet you - Anne said and added hesitantly - you have an unusual name. Are you...?

\- I heard you have a letter you wish to consult me about? - he asked his question instead of replying her implied one.

Anne nodding reached out to her bag and pulled out the small textbook she used as a way to protect the old parchment instead of its usual storing place of flower book, the latter being rather cumbersome to carry around. She took the letter out, unfolded it and handed it to Tinhain. He glanced very quickly over it yet by his features Anne gathered he absorbed the contents.

\- Would you have time for a stroll? - he asked Anne giving her back the letter. 

They turned and walked side by side in silence along the quay and further the road leading at the water edge. Only when the buildings of the town started to thin out Tinhain began to speak again. 

\- Yes, your assumptions were correct. This letter is written in Elven tongue.

\- Oh - Anne gasped quietly - can you understand it? - she found it polite to assure herself even though she was almost certain of the answer.

\- Easily. It goes more or less so: ‚Dear Mother and Father, Last time I wrote was to tell you the news of my marriage to Walter. I know it could have been quite shocking as it always is when we mingle with humans. My news today will hopefully bring only joy to you. You have a little granddaughter now. Annean is her name and she is a sweet little being with her hair just like mine and yours Mother. I hope we can visit you soon. I know you wouldn’t like to venture so far out of the woods to come to us instead. See, I also miss the woods so...but I wouldn’t trade Annean for all the woods of this side of the world. Love, Beurthuilin.’

They walked in silence a bit more. Anne had tears in her eyes as she was processing the letters content and the second proof she got her mother loved her so much. The more she thought about the letter contents though the more follow-up questions started to pop up in her mind. Yet she kept the silence for now, taking cue from the elf beside her. What he was thinking she could not guess. When they reached the end of town and the right side of the road transformed into light woods he spoke.

\- Can you ride? - he asked and suddenly whistled a strange tune.

Anne looked to him startled by both question and noise and saw him patting an elegant dapple gray horse that must have just quietly appeared from the forest in front of them.

\- Yes.

\- Come on then - he gestured for her to mount the horse next to him - I want you to meet someone. I am sure there are more things you want to know than just the translation.

Anne decided to throw cautiousness and propriety to the wind and trust this friend of Ms Lavendar. Soon they were galloping further inland, dense shrubbery of the woods allowing them passage as if by magic. Anne had no idea how long were they travelling so, relishing instead in the wonderful feel of fragrant air rushing against her face and greenish light of sun shining through fresh spring leaves overhead. Eventually the horse slowed down to a trot and she saw her guide gesturing something to the tree on the side. She turned quickly enough to see a slim figure disappearing up the trunk among the branches.

\- They are forewarned - Tinhain answered her unasked question with a hint of a smile in his voice.

Soon they stopped in the middle of the large clearing and slid down to the ground. The horse slowly went to the clump of flowers nearby to graze. Anne looked around and started as she saw a tall woman not unlike Tinhain in appearance, in her late thirties by the look of it (but then probably it meant nothing for elves) coming towards them, the hem of her green dress trailing delicately behind her through the tall grass. 

\- Guileel, this is Annean daughter of Beurthuilin - Tinhain said.

\- Annean, this is an unexpected pleasure to meet you - Guileel reached out and touched Anne’s shoulder instead of a handshake. 

\- Lavendar Lewis pointed her to me as she has a letter of Beurthuilin she needed to understand. I will leave you to it - he said and swiftly departed.

\- Can I see this letter as well? - asked Guileel - I gather Tinhain gave you at least the gist but somehow I sense you have more questions?

Anne silently extracted the letter once more and handed it to this strange woman. She had just managed to grasp that Tinhain hinted at having translated the letter already by his choice of tenses. But for sure her brain started to produce more questions she wanted badly to have answered. Like why had Tinhain dropped her here with this elven lady and disappeared himself? Or...

\- Tinhain decided it will be better if you get your answers from a blood relative, than stranger like him, so he brought you here for us to meet - Guileel said smiling before Anne had a chance to formulate more questions in her mind. 

Anne’s mind spun and she simply stared.

\- You being the daughter of Beurthuilin makes me your greatgreatgrandmother on maternal side I guess. - she chuckled seeing Anne’s expression and self- consciously straightened a wrinkle on her skirt - this is what immortality does to appearance. I don’t look my 2450 do I ? 

\- No, not really - Anne managed. 

They began to walk slowly across the clearing, Guileel keeping silent to allow Anne to adjust to the situation. 

\- Why was this letter in the book? - asked Anne finally, her voice trembling.

\- I believe Beurthuilin simply did not send it. I can assure you it was not returned as your grandparents knew nothing of it last time we were in touch. They worried for a long time what had happened to her.

\- Why didn’t she? 

\- I can only guess. Most simple would be she was in no hurry, a couple of months is really like a short while for us. 

They stopped in front of a carved stone fountain. The water from a spring came out through stone flower outlets and instead or recirculating flowed over the brim and formed a small brook that weaved its way away into the forest. 

\- Before you ask about anything else - Guilleel said - let’s sit here. You must be hungry after the ride and excitement. Thank you - the elder woman spoke to someone behind her back and as Anne turned she saw another elf handing them a platter of food. 

\- From the fact you sought the translation only now I deduce something indeed happened to Beurthuilin. Can you tell me? - Guileel asked gently and Anne shared with her what she learnt from Tommy.

\- I am sorry to hear it - Guileel broke the silence that ensued once the story was ended - And sorry that we were not there for you when you needed it most. I think had your grandparents known of you they wouldn’t be gone. 

\- They sailed off? - Anne guessed.

Guileel nodded.

\- I see Lavendar told you some things about elves - she added with a bittersweet smile. - My daughter moved to another elven dwelling farther from here and your grandparents were also living there. I saw them last when they were leaving for the coast.

They stayed at the foot of the fountain till the sun set and the darkness enveloped the forest, discussing all the questions Anne had as regarded her elvish legacy. Anne was invited to stay the night and had a most marvellous experience of going to sleep in a hammock stretched between two trees, covered with a soft yet warm cloak, similar to that of Tinhain, that Guileel lent her, with spring leaves rustling above and a lonely star blinking at her through the gap in the clouds that gathered in the afternoon. She woke up to the warming rays of rising sun kissing her cheeks and to birds of all kinds noisily but joyfully praising same kisses directed at them. Anne had just the time to refresh by the brook when Guileel found her again with offering of breakfast.

\- I suppose you will wish to return today to your foster family - she said - Tinhain will escort you back to the ferry. But if I may ask keep in contact.

\- Will...?

\- No, human mail does not reach us but you can leave letters by Lavendar, quite often someone from us travels to the Island. No, I don’t read your mind - she added seeing Anne’s expression when she yet again answered her question before she even asked it fully - I apologise for being too quick, it is just the life taught me a lot what questions to expect. Anyway, fell free to visit us anytime as well, whether for a short or longer stay. You will find your way, won’t you?

Anne hesitated since obviously she just travelled the route once. But for some reason she had a strange certainty she would find the way if needed so she nodded.

\- Thank you. For everything you told me and the care you showed me. 

\- Not at all. It was the least I could do after all these years. 

At this words Tinhain appeared with his horse following behind. Anne made a move to return the cloak she still had wrapped around herself in the morning chill.

\- No, please - said Guileel - I would like you to keep it. Elven cloth will keep you warm in any cold. And have a few other properties you may discover at your leisure - she laughed - I would like to add something to it though.

She reached out for Anne’s hand and placed in her palm an elaborate carved pin, adorned with a single amethyst.

\- Oh - Anne gasped gazing mesmerised at light swirling inside the stone - it is pretty. But I cannot accept it.

\- It is a custom of ours to gift jewels on the occasions like marriage or birth. It seems your mother went without one and you as well so if anything you are still short one. Besides you need something to keep the cloak in place - Guileel smiled.

\- Thank you - Anne smiled back - it is really beautiful, I have never seen amethyst sparkle so.

\- This is because it is infused with the light of the Northern Star - answered Guileel - time to go, Annean, if you want to catch your ferry. Farewell - she said placing a kiss on her greatgreatgranddaughter’s forehead.

***

Anne was standing at the edge of a clearing, caressing gently a trunk of a birch tree with her palm. It was the same clearing, just off the fork in a path where she usually met Diana, where her bosom friend once tried walking on the snow instead of through. But now it was the beginning of the summer holidays. The air warm and fragrant with forest flowers, grass and moss lush green under her feet. Her new light green dress whipped gently with the wind. Sunbeams piercing through the leaves brought out fiery reflexes in her loose hair as she reached out her other hand towards a butterfly hovering in front of her.

It was the summer after her first and only year at Queens. She has just returned home having obtained her teaching licence squeezing two years study in one and receiving a scholarship for a BA course in any chosen university of Canada for a good measure. But the future could wait a tiny bit more. Today she was resolved to enjoy her holidays. And today she was finally to meet with Gilbert whom she has not met in person since their haste kisses last summer. Unfortunately the heavy winter prevented him from travelling home for Christmas. They remained faithful penpals all this time but Anne had to admit to herself she felt somehow apprehensive how their relationship will go now they will see each other again. She has not yet mentioned to him the subject of her heritage quest, waiting to do so in person and quite honestly she was scared. True, Diana was delighted, Marilla and Matthew hard to convince but accepting but then Anne had a long history of facing rejection and the old fear was prone to show its ugly head.

\- Anne, you look there like some dryad or fair elven maiden inspecting her demesne.

Anne twirled around at Gilbert’s voice, shocked at how unknowingly he hit upon the exact subject she needed at some point to discuss.

As he looked at her face morphing from joy and surprise through something closely resembling fear to grim decision he stopped a few steps from her, his smile in turn fading in favour of concerned frown.

\- Whatever is the matter? I hoped you will be happy to see me?

\- I am. Truly I am - she looked down fidgeting with lace edge of her sleeve - it is just... - she looked back at him, bracing herself for the inevitable. She owed him the honesty - Gilbert, tell me...are you still serious...I mean is what we have here between us still an advance of a proper advance...

She looked at him searchingly but just the slight tilt of his head sufficed her so she quickly continued lest she looses the courage.

\- Uhm...there is something I must tell you before we advance any further. Do you remember when I told you about my personal quest?

\- And that you don’t need me? - he confirmed.

\- Yes. I mean obviously I need you and needed you back then. I was just exasperated at Marilla and you playing along with her fixation on my recklessness and immaturity. Sorry for jumping at you so.

\- I am sorry for being insensitive to you - Gilbert made as if he wanted to grab her hand but stopped mid-way deciding to let her finish.

\- Thank you. But anyway, that was the beginning of my quest. Or maybe rather Ms Stacy project of articles on family was.

Gilbert’s eyes shone with sudden understanding.

\- I started back then from visiting the orphanage with Cole and then continued this painful search for my parents, my roots. We never spoke about it afterwards but I established both my parents are really dead. My dad was of Scottish origin. My mum...uhm...Gilbert, you are more right than you think. I am one.

\- What? - now he was fully confused.

\- What you said jokingly at the beginning. Only it’s not a joke. I am an elven maiden. I mean half-elven. My mother was an elf - she finished the tricky part with a sigh and looked at him expecting...frankly she didn’t know what. But certainly not...

\- It this why you don’t leave traces in the snow? 

\- How do you...? - she stared at him in disbelief. She never supposed it would be she who will be more shocked by this conversation.

\- I saw it once and it puzzled me. Then I knew what to look for. I noticed you do that or rather not do that when you were absorbed in something else and probably not concentrating enough to do so.

\- Oh - Anne looked rather worried.

\- Don’t worry - he added - I don’t think anybody else noticed, I was looking at you quite a lot, you know - he grinned at her - okay, maybe my dad have noticed something when you told him about that apple tree, which parenthetically speaking collapsed due to fungi the year I came back home with Bash, but he wasn’t the one to talk.

\- Does it bother you?

\- Frankly no. You must tell me more what it involves but I can take a guess it will not change much as regards my feelings for you. Unless... - he grinned again taking a step towards Anne - can I still kiss a half-elf or does it have to remain a half-kiss?

Anne felt the relief flood her. It was she who closed the remaining distance.

\- You can. Or even better a half-elf can kiss you.

And she did just that. And it was just as good and sweet and exciting and everything as she remembered. Or even better with no tower clock signalling them to break apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now I can tell you really what prompted me to write this full rigmarole of elven Anne. It was that sentence ‚you look like a dryad’ (or whatever other spirit) she was adressed with in the book. My brain combined this with her heritage quest from the show and here we are.


	11. An epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An epilogue as befits a grand story :)  
> Okay get ready for a sweetness ride with engagement (but whose?), wedding night (oh yes) and child birth all in one chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not great at writing frightfully fluffy pieces (i am like that husband maybe who washed his wfe’s car when asked to show her love) but tried to make it sweet enough for the occasions.  
> Not explicit despite the topics, sorry (or not, wherever your preference lays).
> 
> Enjoy and thank you for this journey together.  
> No more chapters but you can still tell me how you love it (wink, wink)

#####  Four years later 

\- Anne, oi, Anne!

Anne looked up from her position on the porch. Seeing Jerry she quickly stood up and joined him mid way on the path. She was quite surprised as it was already dark and quite late at that, seeing it was mid June. Usually on Friday evening he would leave early on his way to his parents where he returned for the weekends ever since he accepted Matthew’s offer of living at Green Gables. 

\- Jerry! What is it? Why are you still here? Is anything the matter?

\- Ehm, no, I just needed your opinion. See - he reached out handing her something small.

She grabbed it instinctively without thinking and opened up her palm to have a proper look.

\- Jerry, a ring? Is it...Diana? - she asked in confusion.

He smiled timidly and she quickly pulled him into a tight hug.

\- Oh, Jerry, I am so happy - she released him only to look at him - but how?

He shrugged and scratched his head.

\- With Green Gables now and...she can write her music anywhere right? I thought even her parents might give it a chance.

Anne nodded thoughtfully still smiling.

\- The ring. - reminded Jerry - do you think it is fine? Will she like it? I mean...it is simple, I could only afford rock crystal.

Anne examined the ring again, this time with a proper attention. She turned it around with her finger.

\- I think it is pretty, such a pure crystal seems fitting for pure hearts... - she mused and suddenly an idea possessed her. She knew just what to do. - May I just... - she took the ring gingerly between her index and thumb and hold it up so that moonlight went right through it, bringing out all the cuts of the simple jewel.

When she brought her hand back down, Jerry found in surprise that the moon light still seemed trapped inside, swirling softly.

\- Now a bit add on from me - Anne grinned - moon light looks just perfect for Diana, don’t you think?

\- Anne, how... - Jerry trailed off in astonishment but decided to let his curiosity be and hugged Anne tightly instead - c’est tres jolie! merci, sister.

***

#####  Another two years passed 

Gilbert entered his... _their_ bedroom his brain corrected him but he supposed it will take some time to set in. Anne was standing at the open window, looking out into the warm June night. She must have removed her hairpins as her red hair tumbled down freely onto her shoulders and back in soft curls and locks after being kept up in forced position all day long. Now it swayed gently with her breathing and the fragrant summer breeze drifting through the window. She was still in her white dress though, the simple cut of the gown highlighting her curves in such an enticing way it took all Gilbert’s self control to stop himself from grabbing her right there and letting his hunger take over. Yet he thought the moment called for a longer savouring. He waited almost a decade anyway. He satisfied himself for now by looking slowly all the way down from the tip of her head to the hem of her dress brushing the wooden floor. Then he chuckled. Trust Anne on that. She was barefoot - he realised as he spotted a pink heel peeking out from under the dress there.

\- I see hairpins and shoes are the worst to bear in a woman’s big day attire? - he joked joining her at the window.

\- Yes, high heels are pretty bad but - Anne looked at him sideways narrowing her eyes - you should try the corset. Or better not. Ugh. I don’t wonder anymore why Ms Stacy never...- she stopped seeing him blush - Sorry, I didn’t realise you may not have known that...it was such a common gossip among the girls.

\- Yeah, well, I never really looked at her this way, you know...

He looked out to the night outside. True, they were now free to discuss any subject, women lingerie included, but perhaps this time he would still change the topic. The full moon looked at him curiously from above the trees in the garden reminding him of...

\- Are you thinking back to our conversation on Ms Stacy porch all those years back? - Anne teased him laughingly. They were now able to laugh at all that happened that year in the past but a small part in Gilbert’s mind still felt embarrassed at how he had handled the situation.

\- I was right though. Wasn’t I? We do make a great T-E-A-M?

\- I think we do. And much more - she smiled tenderly at him - you know, we never discussed this bit but I thought back then and still think now that when we leaned just so slightly towards each other on that infamous porch I read a certain desire in your eyes...much more fitting my M-O-R-E than your T-E-A-M...

\- Only you crashed it promptly to the ground with your fierce loyalty towards the whole womankind, personified by Winifred then?

\- Let me remedy it now. Moon, take notice - she said and standing on her tiptoes put her hand on the side of his jaw and pulled him in for a long sweet kiss. - Is this a better promise for future? - she asked breaking away and taking a half step back.

\- It is - admitted Gilbert and wrapping his arms around her waist looked down at her seriously - how was today?

Anne looked back at him, holding his haze steadily for a few minutes while she pondered on her answer. It was a refreshing feeling really that finally she could take all the time she needed to formulate the response and nobody hurried them anywhere. The moon was known for her patience.

\- I think I will always keep today in my memory as the day I made, or rather cemented two most important choices of my life.

\- Two? - ascertained Gilbert - and what were they? - he asked sensing at least half of the answer he could guess but nevertheless wanted to hear it from his beloved girl.

\- The first should be obvious I hope. _You. Or us._ We made the choice all those years back on the front lawn of Mrs Blackmore’s to go our paths in life parallel to one another like rails of the same track, pardon my unromantic simile - she gazed straight into his eyes with all the love she nourished for him so long and it almost made him stagger - and today with our vows we finally bound those paths into one. Partners. Equals. Lifemates.

\- Until death do us part? - he quirked his eyebrow smiling.

\- My elven side would prefer you to say _forever_. The testimonies that Land of Light exists and can be reached in two ways only strengthen my belief that human death is not the end and some ultimate paradise exists, hopefully common for both races - she answered seriously.

\- And the second choice?

\- I was just making as you entered here. With our friend the moon as the witness. It is somehow connected to the previous one but not only to that. Gilbert - Anne straightened and looked at him intently - I have just chosen to embrace in full my human side. It doesn’t mean I will loose all my elven skill as of tomorrow but I will not prowl the PEI for the eternity. I will to age along with all my human peers - she smiled.

\- Oh - he said, tightening his grip on her waist as a silent sign of support - care to tell me why? 

\- I came to realise in the recent years how insanely happy I am to be loved by so many - Marilla, Matthew, Diana, Cole, Jerry, Mrs Lynde, Bash, Dellie*, well... _you_ above others now, I suppose. I cannot imagine though, and this is definitely _something_ coming from me, how, loving you all back, could I fully empathise with all your joys and sorrows the time will bring you being somehow suspended in time myself. I would be afraid some cold aloofness would be sure to creep in when I would look at you all, ageing and experiencing all those inevitable changes with me all the time as young as I chose. And - she said reaching out to stroke gently his cheek - how could we be truly life mates with your life just a fraction in infinite mine? And if my paradise guess from a while ago is true, then I shall ultimately meet my mother on the other side. But I can’t risk missing you there. 

\- Won’t Guileel be hurt by your choice?

\- She is sage with centuries, Gil. Besides I am certain she guessed my choice already back when we first met. 

\- Are you sure you won’t regret it? - as much as Gilbert was touched by her explanation he nevertheless needed to ask.

\- Do you regret Sorbonne? - she shot back.

\- Never! - he assured her fervently and leaned in to connect their lips.

Anne reciprocated with equal fervour, the kiss that started softly and slowly transforming quickly into a deep, passionate and demanding one, their arms encircling the other tightly and bringing their bodies together. It was a while before they broke it off and Gilbert buried his nose in Anne’s hair.

\- I love you, Anne-girl - he said, breathing in the flowery scent of her and moving his fingers gently up her back to the satin ribbon bow that held her wedding dress together.

***

#####  And another year later 

\- Oh, Gilbert, just look at her tiny fists. They are so pe...erfect - Anne stifled a yawn.

\- Anne, dear, you are exhausted, even for a half-elf constitution. Let me take care of our little Joy and you take some rest.

Gilbert tucked the covers securely around Anne, took the small bundle from her arms and smiled at his wife. Only when minute later she indeed closed her eyes, did he turn and left the room.

He stopped in the parlour, gazing at the baby pensively. Apparently all was right, she was small but nothing seemed amiss. Yet...the doctor in him worried. She was so...

\- Pale. It is surely unhealthy. - Mrs Lynde stood from her place on the couch beside Marilla and joined him to look - what is wrong, Gilbert? She hasn’t even cried a mite.

Before he could open his mouth to voice any opinion, a tall figure standing at the window and looking out at their flowering garden, swirled around and crossed the distance to them, taking the baby tenderly from its father. 

\- There is nothing wrong - Guileel said as Joy opened her eyes and looked at her - elven little ones are always like that. Less tired after the passage, calmer in consequence. Aren’t you, Geliean? - she asked of the baby who was still looking at her serenly.

Guileel kissed her so-many-greats-granddaughter head and gave her back to her father. Then she reached out and hang a small rose pendant on a silver chain on the baby’s neck. Sun ray danced mirthfully in the little crystal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Yes, you would maybe expect Aunt Jo and Ruby there? But this is like what? Seven years later after season 3...so there is a reason they are not there. :( Ofc plenty others could be listed there as well, but that just means I didn’t want this piece to be any longer.
> 
> The last part, let me say, I intended as a comment. Obviously, Joy couldn’t die under the circumstances of this AU. But gave you a small add-on after all.
> 
> Thank you again my faithful readers.  
> And let’s hope we get #renewannewithane soon.


End file.
